Singles Final Notes and Quotes - University of Georgia Athletics

Singles Final Notes and Quotes

May 17, 2005 | Women's Tennis

May 28, 2005

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Singles Tournament
Notes
Zemenova Makes NCAA Singles History Baylor freshman Zuzana Zemenova is the first unseeded NCAA champion ever and the fifth to play in the final. The other four unseeded player to reach the final -- Ania Bleszynski of Stanford in 1998, M.C. White of Florida in 1997, Keri Phebus of UCLA in 1994 and Gigi Fernandez of Clemson in 1983 -- all lost. Before Zemenova, the lowest seed to ever win the NCAA singles crown was Stanford's Laura Granville as a 9-16 alphabetical seed in 2000. Youth is served Zuzana Zemenova is the sixth freshman to win the NCAA singles title. Stanford's Amber Liu was the last first-year player to capture the crown in 2003. The others are: Stanford's Laura Granville in 2000, Stanford's Lilia Osterloh in 1997, Florida's Lisa Raymond in 1992 and Beth Herr of Southen California in 1983. Prior to this year's matchup, the last all-freshman final occured in 1997 when Osterloh defeated Florida's M.C. White. First time for everything Baylor's Zuzana Zemenova became the first player from the Big 12 Conference to capture the NCAA singles crown. Meanwhile, Northwestern's Audra Cohen was the first Big Ten player ever to reach the NCAA final. Zemenova is the third Big 12 player to advance to the final, following a pair of top seeds in 1995 and 1996. In 1996, Kansas' Kylie Hunt fell to Florida's Jill Craybas. In 1995, Texas' Kelly Pace lost to Keri Phebus of UCLA in the championship. Student-athletes from nine different schools have won an NCAA singles title. Despite Loss, Cohen Caps Year at 51-7 Audra Cohen became the ninth No. 3 seed to reach the NCAA singles final. The No. 3 seed now has a 3-6 record in singles finals with the victorious No. 3s being Georgia's Angela Lettiere in 1994, Stanford's Sandra Birch in 1989 and Southern California's Beth Herr in 1983. With the lossl, Cohen ends the year at 51-7. < return="" to="" tournament="" home="">
Quotes
No. 3 Audra Cohen, Northwestern "I never really loosened up out there. I played a tight game and that caused my muscles (and back) to get tight. My legs also got a little tired because I was compensating for my back. I couldn't get loose. I just kind of fell apart out there and lost focus." "I'm happy, I had kind of a rougher season in the middle portion. I started out great this year and then I ended well. I would've rather won the title but I'm just a freshman so I've got three more years to ahead. I'm definitely coming back, it's not worth it to turn pro after just one year of college." "I'm usually a pretty free-spirited player, but today I subjected myself to playing how she wanted me to play. I'm also usually a slow starter but build up as the match progresses, but today I played the first four points like I played the same way I did all match." "My back felt fine most of the week. It just gets a little worse on the long days, during these really long matches." Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor "I feel great right now. I am so happy that I was able to win this tournament. This was a very tough match for me. Coach (Joey Scrivano) helped me so much during this match, he kept telling me, `You have to play more aggressive.' I was very tired out there, but I felt like I played my best tennis of the tournament today." "My strategy was to be more aggressive and to try to make her move around more. Her injury wasn't a factor in my mind." Joey Scrivano, Baylor Head Coach "Give full credit to Audra Cohen, this was a match-up between two great student-athletes. " "I came down to the lower courts for the second and third set because, although I like to let my assistants coach I wasn't going to stand idle after that first set." "I don't know how much strategy can be played when you're playing those kind of extremely long points, I think that the players are almost too tired for strategy. In the end, she just believed she could win the points." "I didn't even tell her [Zemenova] about Cohen's injury. Cohen is too good of a competitor to come out thinking she'll let an injury affect her game." < return="" to="" tournament="" home="">

 

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2005 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championships Tournament Page.

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