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1998 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
May 21-29
Courtney Tennis Center
University of Notre Dame
Georgia junior Vanessa Castellano lost to the nation's #6-ranked singles player, William & Mary senior Lauren Nikolaus (4-6, 6-3, 6-4), but the #4-seeded Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA semifinals with a 5-2 win over the Tribe.
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Georgia 5, William & Mary 2
Singles
Lauren Nikolaus (W) def. Vanessa Castellano, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Aarthi Vennkatesan (G) def. Michelle O, 6-1, 6-4
Jan Reid (G) def. Carolijn van Rossum, 6-0, 6-1
Tari Ann Toro (W) def. Christa Grey, 6-3, 6-0
Nadine van de Walle (G) def. Annette Oosters, 6-4, 6-1
Zoe Mellis (G) def. Lindsay Sullivan, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
Doubles
Castellano and Grey (G) vs. Nikolaus and O, DNP
Reid and Venkatesan (G) def. Toro and Laura Tsaggaris, 8-5
Mellis and van de Walle (G) vs. Oosters and van Rossum, Abandoned (6-4 G)
Postmatch Quotes
Georgia Coach Jeff Wallace
On the match: "I feel like it was grueling; like I've
just been through a marathon. At the NCAA's you expect to be
tested in every round. I'm so proud of Nadine (Nadine van de
Walle), who hasn't played a singles match in a couple of months
and has come in and just played unbelievable. When you have
people like that who can step it up; good things are going to
happen."
On his team: "I told my team at the beginning of the
year that good things happen to people who work hard. This team
has just done a great job for us the whole year; they've worked
really hard. They've believed in each other and the most fun
that I have had this year is just being around these girls. This
is a true team."
On William & Mary: "William & Mary has a great team.
They're really well coached. They played hard and my hat's off
to them. They ousted us last year at the tournament, so it's
nice that we got a little bit of revenge."
William & Mary Coach Brian Kalbas
On his team's slow start: "I don't know why we got off
to a slow start. Yesterday we practiced twice, so that helped,
but today we played a team that was really inspired. You could
see the determination and intensity in Georgia's eyes. For us,
we didn't make them execute and make them play a lot; we had a
lot of unforced errors. Maybe we were a little nervous, but you
have to give them all the credit."
On his team: "We don't have the best talent on the
team, but there isn't a team out there that fights as hard as we
do. The last half of the season we have refused to lose. We
have such a good close-knit team that whether we win or lose our
players are helping one another out. They want to win for each
other. That speaks extremely well for our team."
Georgia Player Nadine van de Walle
On her doubles match: "We were all giving 100 percent
since that's what we did yesterday. Yesterday we wanted No. 2
doubles to win so me and my doubles partner (Zoe Mellis) were
looking over at their court the whole time, but this time we
stayed focused. We knew that we had to win since you never know
what's going to happen."
On William & Mary: "They are a tough team. They fought
hard, especially on No. 2 doubles. Our team would hit a good
shot and they would come back with one of their own."
William & Mary assistant coach Tyler Thompson talks with #2 singles player, senior Michelle O., during a changeover. Georgia freshman Aarthi Venkatesan defeated O. (6-1, 6-4) while the Tribe came up short in their quest for a second straight upset (W&M beat Cal 5-3 on Thursday).
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