The UCSD women’s tennis team’s season came to an end May 12 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II National Championships in Altamonte Springs, Fla., against second-ranked and eventual national champions Armstrong Atlantic.
What a run:
“We had a great tournament, including a fairly easy first round where everybody played well, but Armstrong Atlantic was just way too tough,” head coach Liz LaPlante said, completing her 26th season coaching the team. “They were the best competition we’ve seen all year, and they deserved to win. The way they were playing, we could tell that they had a great chance to win the title.”
The No. 11-seeded Tritons were overwhelmed right from the start, losing all three doubles matches to the Pirates. At the top spot, the 17th-ranked Triton duo of sophomore Marsha Malinow and junior Tara Siddiqui fell, 8-6. It got worse from there for UCSD, which lost both other doubles matchups convincingly. At the No. 2 spot, sophomores Kristin Bronowicki and Katie McKee lost, 8-2, to Manuela Emmrich and Caroline Grage, and at No. 3, Armstrong Atlantic’s Dziyana Nazaruk and Johanna Dahlback blew senior Jasmin Dao and junior Marissa Hilker off the court, 8-0.
The Pirates didn’t waste any time clinching the match in singles play, taking victories at the No. 1 spot and No. 5 spots in dominating fashion, 6-0, 6-0. Malinow and McKee were the victims of Cowper and Grage, respectively. Armstrong Atlantic players also led in each of the four other matches before they were called.
This loss left the Tritons tied for fifth place, the team’s highest finish since the 2002 season. Meanwhile, the Pirates went on to upset top-seeded BYU-Hawaii in the final, 5-3, to take the Division II title. This was a major upset, with the heavily favored Seasiders having ridden a 130-consecutive-match win streak into the championships, and having lost only one prior match in their six years in the NCAA.
“[The entire season] was a great group effort,” LaPlante said. “We knew that the group we had coming back was strong, but with the emergence of Malinow [at the No. 1 spot] and perhaps the best three combinations at doubles we’ve had in years, the team really went over my expectations for the year. Everybody worked hard to get to this point. I’m way proud of the girls.”
The loss to Armstrong Atlantic not only concluded the team’s season, but also marked the end of the collegiate careers of captains Dao, a four-year player, and Roberts, who is graduating early. Dao compiled a 7-6 singles record and 15-3 doubles record in 2005, while Roberts went 15-3 and 4-0.
Despite the losses of Dao and Roberts, the team’s future is bright, as every other starter should return next season. UCSD had a very strong season this year, finishing 20-4. According to LaPlante, she has four junior-ranked Southern California recruits joining next year’s team.
