May 23, 2002

STANFORD, Calif. - Top-seeded Bea Bielik of Wake Forest will make her second consecutive appearance in the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship after defeating North Carolina¡¦s Kate Pinchbeck, 6-2, 6-4, in Thursday¡¦s quarterfinal match.

Bielik, a junior from Valley Stream, N.Y., has has posted four consecutive straight set victories and has dropped just 18 games in her championship quest thus far. She won 6-4, 6-2 over Harvard¡¦s Susanna Lingman; 6-3, 6-2 over Fresno State¡¦s Kim Niggemeyer; and an impressive 6-1, 6-0 over UCLA¡¦s third-ranked Megan Bradley prior to her quarterfinal victory Thursday.

¡§I started off playing a little tight today,¡¨ said Bielik. ¡§Overall, I think my game is really coming together and improving with each match. Right now I¡¦m just trying to put everything together for tomorrow.¡¨

Next up for Bielik is a semifinal date with Stanford freshman Erin Burdette on Friday at 11:00 a.m. (PT). It will mark the first meeting between the two underclassmen. Burdette is ranked 13th nationally and is seeded among the 9-16 group in the Championship.

The other semifinal features two seniors ¡V Florida¡¦s third-seeded Jessica Lehnhoff and Stanford¡¦s Gabriela Lastra, seeded 9-16. That match will also take place at 11:00 a.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Center.

NCAA Singles Championship
Thursday, May 23
Quarterfinals
(1) Bea Bielik (WFU) def. Kate Pinchbeck (UNC), 6-2, 6-4

Friday, May 24
Semifinals
(1) Bea Bielik (WFU) vs. (9-16) Erin Burdette (Stanford), 11:00 a.m.
(3) Jessica Lehnhoff (Florida) vs. (9-16) Erin Burdette (Stanford), 11:00 a.m.