Division I Regionals: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Teams: North Carolina, Loyola (Md.), Louisiana State, Furman
Date: May 11-12, 2002
Site: Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center
Pairings:
Saturday 10 a.m.
No. 48 LSU vs. No. 52 Furman
Saturday 2 p.m.
No. 7 UNC vs Loyola (Md.)
Sunday 1 p.m.
Regional Championship
At A Glance
Julie Rotondi enters the tournament on a 15-match winning streak.
Kate Pinchbeck lost only one match in spring competition to finish the season at 24-1.
Head Coach Jen Callen has led the Tar Heels to the ACC Championship and a berth in the NCAA Championships in her first year as head coach at Carolina.
Carolina has four All-ACC selections and three players competing in the NCAA Individual Championships.
This is Carolina's fourth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance.
Carolina's top six players will all return for the 2003 season.
Carolina Hosts Its First NCAA Regional
Carolina enters the 2002 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships fresh off the most successful regular season in school history. The No. 7 Tar Heels finished the season 22-4 after playing one of the toughest schedules in the country. Carolina played 19 matches against ranked opponents including 10 matches against Top 10 opponents.
The Tar Heels' success earned them the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and home court advantage in the NCAA regionals for the first time in school history. This is Carolina's fourth consecutive and fourth overall appearance in the NCAA Championships. UNC advanced to the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament before falling to California, 4-1.
Carolina's three previous NCAA Tournament appearances came under former coach Roland Thornqvist, who is now the head coach at Florida.
The first round will pit UNC vs. Loyola (Md.) for the first time. If Carolina wins its NCAA Tournament opener, the Tar Heels will face the winner of the Louisiana State-Furman match. Carolina has never lost to Furman in 13 previous matches and is 5-1 all-time against LSU.
Tar Heels Claim ACC Championship For First Time In 21 Years
UNC earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after a 4-3 victory over Duke in the ACC Championship final on April 21. The victory gave the Tar Heels their first ACC championship since the conference adopted a dual match format in 1986 and their first title since the 1980-81 school year. UNC has won a total of five ACC titles.
Carolina defeated No. 47 Florida State and No. 8 Wake Forest to set up the championship final against No. 4 Duke. UNC scored the first point with doubles victories at flights two and three. Duke scored three singles wins and Carolina's Julie Rotondi and Aniela Mojzis won their singles matches to set up the No. 2 match between Kate Pinchbeck and Duke's Amanda Johnson as the clincher.
Pinchbeck won the third set, 6-0 to seal the victory and earn tournament MVP honors.
Four Tar Heels Make All-ACC Team
Four Carolina players earned a spot on the All-ACC team as voted on by the conference's nine head coaches. It is the first time in school history that Carolina has had four players earn all-conference honors in the same season. Marlene Mejia, Kate Pinchbeck, Julie Rotondi and Aniela Mojzis filled four of the 12 spots on the squad, leaving Carolina with the most players honored in 2002.
Pinchbeck, Rotondi and Mejia are all ranked in the ITA top 40. Pinchbeck is ranked No. 14, Rotondi is No. 34 and Mejia is No. 36. All three players are scheduled to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships scheduled for May 20-25 in Palo Alto, Calif.
Individual Accomplishments
Marlene Mejia:
Mejia enters the 2002 NCAA Championships on the heels of her third consecutive All-ACC selection ... is currently ranked No. 36 in the country ... has played at No. 1 spot since beginning of her freshman year ... compiled 15-9 record against some of the country's best players ... 2001 ITA All-America selection ... selected to play in NCAA Individual Championships later this month.
Kate Pinchbeck:
Breakout season in 2002 earned Pinchbeck recognition as one of the nation's top players ... finished the spring season with 24-1 record splitting time between the No. 2 and No. 3 spot ... enters tournament ranked No. 14 in the country ... won her first 22 matches of the season ... avenged only regular season loss against Duke's Amanda Johnson with third set victory to clinch the ACC Championship for UNC ... ACC Championship MVP and an All-ACC selection ... teamed with Bairos to form Carolina's most successful doubles tandem, finishing with a 12-2 record ... selected to compete in NCAA Individual Championships.
Julie Rotondi:
Enters NCAA Championships riding a 15-match winning streak ... finished season with 21-4 record splitting time between the No. 2 and No. 3 spots... earned second consecutive All-ACC selection as a sophomore... ranked No. 34 coming into tournament ... selected to compete in NCAA Individual Championships.
Aniela Mojzis:
Freshman from South Africa finished spring season with 19-7 record playing mostly at No. 4... earned All-ACC honors ... teamed with Kendall Cline to compete in preseason Indoor National Championships in fall 2001 as one of only 16 doubles tandems invited; advanced to second round.
Lee Bairos:
Improved on successful freshman campaign, finishing spring season at 17-5 playing mostly at No. 5... teamed with Pinchbeck to form Carolina's most successful doubles tandem, finishing with a 12-2 record.
Kendall Cline:
Tough freshman who finished the spring season at 13-5 playing at No. 6 singles ... clinched pivotal regular season match against Wake Forest with 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Danielle Schwartz ... teamed with fellow freshman Aniela Mojzis to advance to second round of preseason Indoor National Championships as one of only 16 teams invited.
