Pairings Announced for NCAA Doubles Championship
5/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. -- The first-round match times for the 2005 NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Doubles Championship were announced today (Monday, May 23), and University of Michigan senior Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and sophomore Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) will face Tulane's Darya and Maria Ivanov in the first round Tuesday (May 24, 1:30 p.m.) at the University of Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
The Midwest Region's lone at-large bid into the 32-team tournament, DaCosta and Delicata enter the week with a 24-10 overall record, including an 18-6 mark in dual match action. The tandem is ranked 20th in the most recent ITA national rankings (May 2) and is just the fourth U-M doubles team selected for the tournament and the second since 1998.
The Ivanov sisters, ranked 31st in the nation, led the Green Wave with a 15-12 overall record in 2004-05. Their fall campaign was highlighted by a trip to the semifinals at the ITA Southwest Regional Championships, and they competed exclusively at the No. 1 position during the dual match season.
Should DaCosta and Delicata advance, they would meet the winner of Northwestern's No. 2-ranked duo of Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier and South Florida's No. 19-ranked team of Gabriela Duch and Neyessa Etienne in the round of 16 on Wednesday (May 25, time TBA). DaCosta and Delicata upset then No. 1-ranked Cohen and Grier 8-6 at the Big Ten Conference Championship three weeks ago (May 1).
DaCosta and Delicata join Sarah Cyganiak (1994-97) and Sora Moon (1995-98) as the only doubles tandem in U-M history to qualify for national tournament twice in their career. Last season, the pair defeated Kentucky's Sarah Foster and Aibika Kalsarieva (6-3, 6-1) in the first round before falling to Marshall's Jessica Johnson and Ashley Kroh (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) in the round of 16. It was the furthest any U-M women's doubles team has advanced at the national championship.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
