May 23, 1998
The No. 6 University of California women's tennis team was upset by William & Mary, 5-2, in the first round of the NCAA team championships on May 21 at Notre Dame. Four of Cal's women tennis players are hoping to reverse the team's fortunes as they gear up to play in the NCAA singles and doubles tournaments scheduled to start on Monday, May 25 at Notre Dame.
Amanda Augustus, ranked No. 5 in the nation in singles, is seeded No. 3 in the singles draw. She will face Nicholls State's Romana Tedjakuma in the first round. If Agustus advances, she will play the winner of the match between Lule Aydin of Wake Forest and Elizabeth Schmidt of UCLA.
Esther Knox, ranked No. 43 in the nation, will play Georgia's Vanessa Castellano, who is seeded in the 9-12 group. Knox will face the winner of the match between Eline Chiew (BYU) and Stephanie Nickilas (Forida) if she gets past Castellano.
In doubles, the No. 12 ranked tandem of Augustus and Amy Jensen are slated to play Nieda Kaiwai and Dorolhee Kurz of Wake Forest, who are seeded in the No. 5-8 group, in the first round. That is an interesting matchup because Jensen transferred to Cal last season from Wake Forest and will be facing two of her former teammates.
Knox and Anita Kurimay, ranked No. 22 in the nation, are poised to play Zsofia Csapo and Angela Lawerence of Pepperdine in the first round. If Kurimay and Knox advance, they probably would face William & Mary's Lauren Nickolaus and Michelle O, seeded in the No. 5-8 group. This would be an opportunity for Cal to revenge on their loss to William & Mary in the team competition.
All first round matches will be played on Monday, May 25 at times to be determined.
