May 18, 2003

DUKE IN THE NCAA SINGLES & DOUBLES COMPETITION

Three Duke singles players and two doubles teams will be competing this week in the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Kelly McCain, junior Amanda Johnson and sophomore Saras Arasu will each play in singles, while the teams of Johnson/Julie DeRoo and McCain/Hillary Adams will each play in doubles.

McCain is seeded third and will kick off action against 32nd-ranked Viktoria Stoklasova of South Alabama, Johnson will go up against 50th-ranked Susi Wild of UCLA and Arasu will battle 42nd-ranked Marlene Mejia of North Carolina. All matches will be played on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

In doubles play, DeRoo/Johnson will play 21st-ranked Applebaum/Bradley and McCain/Adams will go up against 36th-ranked Faltynkova/Koldynska. All doubles matches begin on Tuesday.

The 64-player singles championship begins on Monday, May 19 and runs through May 24, with one round played each day at the Ring Tennis Complex at the University of Florida, while the NCAA doubles championship gets underway on Tuesday, May 20, as the competitors play one round each day capped with the final on May 24th.

Wake Forest's Bea Bielik won the NCAA Singles title last season, while the Stanford pair of Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra captured the NCAA Doubles crown. The winners of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships receive an automatic bid into the main draw of the 2003 U.S. Open.

IN THE RANKINGS

All three of Duke's singles players are ranked in the top 60 in the latest ITA rankings-- Kelly McCain (No. 2), Amanda Johnson (19) and Saras Arasu (60). The doubles teams are ranked in the top 14 -- Julie DeRoo/Johnson (8) and Hillary Adams/McCain (14).

MEET THE BLUE DEVILS

Sophomore Kelly McCain has been ranked no lower than fifth all season and was even ranked No. 1 in the Feb. 26 rankings. The second-ranked McCain has posted a 35-2 overall and 27-1 dual match ledger this season. McCain has accumulated 23 victories against ranked players and 11 victories against opponents ranked in the top-15 nationally. McCain, the 2003 ACC Player of the Year, lost in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Individual competition to Katarina Markovski of South Carolina, 1-6, 7-5, 5-7. She has won 13 matches in a row and the last 12 of them have been in straight sets.

Junior Amanda Johnson owns a 26-8 overall record and has come on strong over the last couple of months winning 16 of her last 17 matches. Johnson, currently ranked 19th, has 12 victories against ranked opponents. Johnson received her third invitation to the NCAA Individual Championship, but did not play last season due to being sick with mononucleosis. As a freshman, Johnson lost in the first round to Lindsay Dawaf of Florida (6-1, 6-1).

Sophomore Saras Arasu is ranked 60th nationally and has played a variety of positions this season ranging from No. 2 (2-1), No. 3 (4-6), No. 4 (2-1), No. 5 (2-0) and No. 6 (2-1). Overall, she has a 23-12 singles ledger and is 12-9 in dual match action. It marks the first time Arasu has been invited for the NCAA Individual competition.

DUKE'S DOUBLES

The duo of Julie DeRoo/Amanda Johnson began the season on fire winning 20 of their first 23 matches and were ranked as high as second in the nation before falling off over the last two months. Down the stretch, the team owned a 7-7 mark over their last 14 matches. Overall, the tandem has a 27-10 doubles record. Duke tandem was selected to the NCAA Doubles competition last season but did not play as Johnson was sick with mono.

The tandem of Kelly McCain/Hillary Adams have won 13 of the last 16 matches and have been ranked no lower than 16th all season long. Both McCain and Adams have been good friends since they were eight and nine years old. The tandem advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Individual competition last season, which earned the duo All-America status. They own a 24-12 overall record this season.

KELLY MCCAIN WINS GRAND SLAM TITLE

Duke University sophomore Kelly McCain accomplished something on Sunday, Oct. 13 only four other players in Blue Devil school history have done before- won a Collegiate Grand Slam Singles Championship. Fifth-ranked McCain knocked off 11th-ranked Nataly Cahana of Old Dominion, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to pick up the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Riviera All-American singles title at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

The Tampa, Fla. native won the seventh overall Collegiate Grand Slam Championship in school history and it marks only the third time a Blue Devil has won the Riviera All-American. A Duke player has won the Riviera All-American two out of the last three years. Other title holders include- Ansley Cargill (2000 Riviera All-American), Julie Exum (1990 & 1992 National Clay Courts), Vanessa Webb (1996 Riviera All-American and 1998 NCAA Championship) and Karin Miller (1997 National Indoors).

McCain, the No. 4 seed, won 10 of the last 11 games to capture her first national collegiate title and registered five victories over players ranked in the top 25 of the Omni Hotels national singles rankings en route to the title.

McCain reached two national semifinals last season as a freshman before falling to Cahana.