Michigan
NCAA Doubles Championship
DaCosta, Delicata Drop Tight Match in NCAA Round of 16
5/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Site: Athens, Ga. (Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
Event: NCAA Doubles Championship
Scoring: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Match: Season Completed
ATHENS, Ga. -- University of Michigan women's tennis players Michelle DaCosta (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne HS) and Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary) fell just one point shy of earning All-America status at the 2005 NCAA Doubles Championships, as they fell 3-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(4) to Northwestern's No. 2-ranked team of Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier in the round of 16 Wednesday afternoon (May 25) at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
DaCosta and Delicata, ranked 20th in the nation, stormed out of the gates and built an early 4-0 advantage in the first set. The lead proved to be insurmountable for the Cohen and Grier, as the Wolverine tandem went on to win 6-3 and gain the early momentum in the match. DaCosta and Delicata held four out of five times and broke Northwestern's serve twice in the first set.
It was a different story in the second set, with the Northwestern duo breaking serve to gain an early 2-0 lead before DaCosta and Delicata battled back and knotted the score at 4-4. With Cohen and Grier holding a 5-4 advantage, DaCosta held serve to tie things up at 5-5. Both teams went on to hold serve and force the first of two tiebreakers. Michigan had two match-point opportunities in the extra session, but the Wildcat pair staved off elimination on both occasions and eventually won 10-8 to even the match at one set apiece. There were just two service breaks between the two teams in the second set.
Each team held serve in the third set until Delicata was broken at 3-3. Michigan was on the brink of elimination, trailing 5-3, but DaCosta held and Grier was then broken to make the score 5-5. The two teams exchanged games to force another tiebreaker, and Northwestern came away with a 7-4 decision to clinch the match.
With the loss, DaCosta and Delicata were eliminated from the 32-team tournament. The U-M pair wrapped up a successful season as the Wolverines' top doubles team, recording a 25-11 overall mark, including a 18-6 record against dual match competition. DaCosta and Delicata are just the second doubles tandem in Michigan women's tennis history to qualify for NCAA Championship twice in their career.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Bitsy Ritt
On the doubles career of DaCosta and Delicata ..."I thought they were such a solid doubles team for us throughout their career. They improved so much throughout the season and did some really good things for us. It's just hard at the moment to think about all the things they've accomplished because of the disappointment from this loss. But today really does not detract from what they've done as a team and how hard they've worked. They will be remembered as a very special doubles team that achieved a lot."
N O T E S
• This marks the second straight season that DaCosta and Delicata have fallen in the round of 16 at the NCAA Championship. Last year, 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. No doubles team in Michigan history has advanced past the second round of competition at NCAAs.
• DaCosta and Delicata held a 1-2 record against Cohen and Grier in 2004-05. The Wildcat tandem posted an 8-2 win in the ITA Midwest Regional Championship semifinals (Oct. 14) before DaCosta and Delicata returned the favor with an 8-6 triumph at the Big Ten Conference Championship (May 1).
• DaCosta finishes her four-year career with an overall doubles record of 81-56 (.591).
Players Mentioned
