University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond Tennis Teams Ready For NCAA Regionals
05/08/2002 | Women's Tennis
May 8, 2002
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond men's and women's tennis teams will compete in the NCAA Regionals beginning Friday morning when the women travel to Durham, N.C. to face No. 56 Pennsylvania. The men then take to the courts Saturday afternoon in Malibu, Calif. versus No. 8 Pepperdine. Both squads, each led by the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, look to pick up the first-ever Richmond tennis team victory in the NCAA Division I Tournament, as the men make their inaugural appearance and the women return for the first time since making back-to-back trips in 1997 and 1998.
The women cruised through the Atlantic 10 Championships, blanking their three opponents by a combined score of 12-0. In addition to having head coach Vanessa Bagnato (Manhasset, N.Y.), sophomore Jeannette Cluskey (Minneapolis, Minn.), and freshman Lindsay Cox (Finchampstead, Workingham Berks, UK). Bagnato has won 10 of her last 12 at the No. 2 spot while Cox has won 11 of 14 at No. 3 singles. Also streaking for the Spiders are freshman Courtney Klein (East Amherst, N.Y.) and sophomore Patty Devlin (York, Pa.), as each has won five of her past six matches, including four in a row.
Richmond (12-9) will face a tough first-round opponent in No. 56 Pennsylvania. The Quakers (14-5) were champions of the highly competitive Ivy League and their No. 1 singles player, Alice Pirsu, is ranked No. 24 nationally. The match is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 10 at the Ambler Tennis Stadium on the Duke University campus. To view live stats of the match, visit Duke's athletic website at www.GoDuke.com.
Like their female counterparts, the men have also been playing excellent tennis as they have won six in a row and 12 of their last 15 matches, including being crowned Atlantic 10 champions. They are led by two sophomore all-conference performers who play at the top two singles positions: Niki Doll (Heidelberg, Germany) and David Donn (East Longmeadow, Mass.), who has won seven straight matches. Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Steve Gerstenfeld has plenty of depth though as three other players, all freshmen, have reached double-digit win totals in the spring season. Jeppy Moss (Fredericksburg, Va.) leads the way at 15-4, primarily playing at the No. 6 slot. Matthew Cabana (Plantation, Fla.) and Derek Schwandt (Kennett Square, Pa.) each have 14 wins, as the two play at the No.s 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Cabana has won seven straight and Schwandt has won 10 of his last 13.
Richmond (17-9) will have a tough task on Saturday, May 11, as it will look to upset regional host and No. 8 Pepperdine (22-5). The Waves, coming off their 12th straight West Coast Conference title, are 13-1 at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center this season, where Saturday's match will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET. Pepperdine boasts the No. 3 ranked player nationally, Al Garland, and two doubles tandems ranked in the top 15.
The winning teams from the 16 regional sites advance to the NCAA Championships the following weekend, which will be held in College Station, Texas for the men and Stanford, Calif. for the women.