May 19, 2003

GAINESVILLE, FLA.-- Junior Amanda Johnson advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship on Monday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over 50th-ranked Susi Wild of UCLA at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, Fla.

Sophomore second-ranked Kelly McCain was bothered with leg cramps and ended up falling in the first round for the second straight year to 32nd-ranked Viktoria Stoklasova of South Alabama (7-6, 6-7, 4-6) in a match which took over three hours to complete. Sophomore 60th-ranked Saras Arasu also fell 1-6, 6-7 to 42nd-ranked Marlene Mejia of North Carolina.

Johnson will next take on 79th-ranked Megan Bradley of Miami on Tuesday.

Two Duke doubles teams will begin competing on Tuesday-- Julie DeRoo/Johnson will play 21st-ranked Applebaum/Bradley and McCain/Hillary Adams will go up against 36th-ranked Faltynkova/Koldynska.

Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth

On how much McCain was affected by leg cramps throughout the match... "Completely. It affected her movement in the third set. It was hard for both players because the other girl [Stoklasova] was worried about injury and that kind of stuff. It's hard to play someone when they are injured. The hardest thing for Kelly was 'one ball and out.' She would hit a great shot and stay in the point or two balls and the point is over. It was just hard for her because it's either hit or miss, and when you are in that situation, you are taking your chances."

On if what happened in the team tournament to Duke affected McCain... "The first day of the tournament is always the toughest, especially going through the team tournament emotionally, coming back after a disappointing loss for our team. We've always told our players to get on it in the first day, and that's going back through years. Most of the upsets that happen in these tournaments take place in the first day. The girl she played [Stoklasova] made her hit a lot of balls, and that was a tough thing for her to do."