April 24, 2004

April 23, 2004 -

WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Virginia Commonwealth's women's tennis team, ranked 51st in the country and seeded second, defeated seventh-seed George Mason, 4-1, today in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Women's Tennis Tournament at William and Mary's Busch Tennis Courts. The Rams improve to 16-7 on the year, while the Patriots fall to 7-14.

VCU had just five players available for the match and started off down 1-0 to GMU after defaulting the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles contests. The Rams quickly tied the score at one by winning the doubles point with victories at the top two positions. At No. 2, Cristina Gago and Silvia Urickova defeated Maricel Ballester and Katie Sloper, 8-1. Cristina Arribas and Olga Borisova, ranked 59th in the nation, defeated Jennifer Dektas and Jamie Delorie at No. 1, 8-0.

The Rams went ahead 2-1 with a win by Camille Ripert over Natalie Oudar at No. 5, 6-0, 6-1 and took a 3-1 lead when Gago defeated Sloper, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4. Borisova, the CAA Rookie of the Year and ranked 71st in the country, soon followed with a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 2 over Dektas.

VCU advances to the semifinal round, where they will face No. 3 seed Old Dominion. That match will be played at W&M's Busch Courts, starting at 2:00 PM.

Virginia Commonwealth 4, George Mason 1
Colonial Athletic Association Men's Tennis Tournament Quarterfinal

Singles
1. #53 Silvia Urickova vs. Maricel Ballester (GMU); suspended
2. #71 Olga Borisova d. Jennifer Dektas (GMU); 6-1, 6-1
3. Cristina Arribas vs. Jamie Delorie (GMU); suspended
4. Cristina Gago d. Katie Sloper (GMU); 6-1, 6-0
5. Camille Ripert d. Natalie Oudar (GMU); 6-0, 6-1
6. Default to George Mason
Order of finish: 5, 4, 2

Doubles
1. #59 Arribas/Borisova d. Dektas/Delorie (GMU); 8-0
2. Gago/Urickova d. Ballester/Sloper (GMU); 8-1
3. Default to George Mason
Order of finish: 2, 1