April 22, 2004

WILLIAMSBURG, VA (April 22, 2004)-George Mason's women's tennis team, the No. 7 seed, blanked No. 10 Drexel 4-0 this morning in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at William and Mary's Busch Tennis Courts. The Patriots improve to 7-13 with the victory, while the Dragons end their season at 2-13.

GMU started off by winning the doubles point with victories at the first and third positions. The match on court three finished first, with Deepti Bhalla and Natalie Oudar defeating Pam Panos and Jillian Toussaint, 8-2. Jenn Dektas and Jamie Delorie clinched the point with an 8-1 win at No. 1 over Beth Childs and Kristy Pron.

The Patriots continued to play well in singles, quickly taking the first, second and fourth contests to secure the win. Dektas finished first with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Brandy Tricker. In the top match, Maricel Ballester defeated Pron, 6-0, 6-2 to give GMU a 3-0 lead. Katie Sloper clinched the victory with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 4 over Toussaint.

GMU advances to tomorrow's quarterfinal round with an 11:30 match against top seed Virginia Commonwealth, the defending CAA champion.

George Mason 4, Drexel 0
CAA Women's Tennis Tournament First Round
Singles
#1 Maricel Ballester (GMU) d. Kristy Pron (Drexel), 6-0, 6-2
#2 Jenn Dektas (GMU) d. Brandy Tricker (Drexel), 6-0, 6-1
#3 Jamie Delorie (GMU) d. Michelle Septak (Drexel), suspended
#4 Katie Sloper (GMU) d. Jillian Toussaint (Drexel); 6-1, 6-1
#5 Natalie Oudar (GMU) d. Jen Rimmey (Drexel); suspended
#6 Melissa Wooten (GMU) d. Pam Panos (Drexel); suspended
Order of finish: 2, 1, 4

Doubles
#1 Dektas/Delorie (GMU) d. Beth Childs/Pron (Drexel); 8-1
#2 Ballester/Sloper (GMU) vs. Rimmey/Tricker (Drexel): suspended
#3 Deepti Bhalla/Oudar (GMU) d. Panos/Toussaint (Drexel); 8-2
Order of finish: 3, 1