May 27, 2005
ATHENS, Ga. -- Five down, one to go.
Northwestern freshman Audra Cohen (Plantation, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas), the tournament's No. 3 seed, rolled into Saturday's NCAA championship singles match with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over UCLA freshman Riza Zalameda Friday at Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
She now faces another freshman, Baylor's unseeded Zuzana Zemenova, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over fifth-seeded Jennifer Magley of Florida. That match begins at noon CT on Saturday.
Cohen is attempting to win Northwestern's first NCAA women's tennis singles title and the school's third NCAA national championship in the last two months. Sophomore Matt Grevers won a national championship in the 100 backstroke on March 25 and the women's lacrosse team won the NCAA title this past Sunday (May 22).
The semifinal victory also improved Cohen's season record to 51-6, moving her into a third-place tie on the NCAA's all-time single-season victory list. Kerri Phebus of UCLA won 55 matches in 1994-95.
With a victory on Saturday, Cohen can make NCAA history by becoming the first player from a northern school to win a singles title. Previous NCAA singles champions hail from just nine schools: Stanford, USC, UCLA, California, Florida, Georgia, Duke, San Diego and Wake Forest.
Friday's semifinal against Zalameda set up a battle between two freshmen, who have each exploded onto the college tennis scene in their own right. A battle between former junior tennis doubles partners. A battle between Cohen's signature power forehand and Zalameda's slicing one-handed backhand.
The Wildcat got off to a flying start by winning the first four points of the match with her serve. After Zalameda held in the next game, Cohen started a trend in the third game. She broke the Bruin's serve -- the first of four-straight games in which neither player could hold. Cohen completed the break when Zalameda slammed an overhand into the net -- a missed opportunity for the Bruin, but more of a credit to Cohen's hustle to run down a ball deep in the corner.
The UCLA player composed herself and evened the break points back up in the next game.
In the sixth game, Cohen was in prime position at double-break point, but Zalameda pushed the game back to deuce. At the third break point though, the Bruin double faulted, affording Cohen a 4-2 lead.
The pair endured another series of deuces in the next game, before Cohen double faulted to give a game back to Zalameda.
After three more deuce points in the following game, Zalameda tied the set back up at 4-4 by ripping a backhand down the line, just out of Cohen's reach.
Cohen then picked the perfect time to break out of her serving funk, recording four-straight points in the next game to inch ahead 5-4. Then, her third break of Zalameda came at just the right time, as Cohen closed out the first set 6-4.
"For me, focusing is the biggest thing," Cohen said. "I have to make sure that I am concentrating on every single point. I also can't give away any free points. Every point you give away is a point you lose."
The Wildcat started the second frame in exactly the same manner she began the first. She got her serve working for four-straight points and a quick 1-0 lead. Each player held their next service opportunity, bringing the score to 2-1, before Cohen went up a break in the fourth game.
In the fifth game, Zalameda seemed on track to even the breaks back up when she had Cohen at double-break point. But the Wildcat tore off three-consecutive aces to take the advantage. After the second deuce, Cohen took the game and a commanding 4-1 lead.
Again with the serve in the seventh game, Cohen notched another ace to knot the score at 30-30. Zalameda did her part to break her former teammate though, winning her second-straight game to bring the set to 4-3 in Cohen's favor.
"It was rough to be up 4-1 then get broken to make it 4-3, I got a little nervous," Cohen said. "I went inside, changed clothes and got back into the match. That helped me with momentum and regain focus."
Cohen broke back in the next game to take a 5-3 lead.
Later in the tenth game at triple-match point, Cohen dipped into her bag of tricks and nailed a finesse, backhanded lob over an outstretched Zalameda for the match.
"I'm not really surprised that Cohen is in the final." head coach Claire Pollard said. "Going into the season, I thought she would be one of the best players in the country. There are a lot of great players here. It's just a matter of stringing it together this time of year."
Live scoring and daily results are available at UGA's tournament website and the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship page .
2005 NCAA Singles Championships Semifinals Results
#3 Audra Cohen (NU) def. Riza Zalameda (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4.
Zuzana Zemenova (Baylor) def. #5 Jennifer Magley (Florida) 7-5, 6-4.
Cohen's National Championship Match
vs. Zuzana Zemenova (Baylor) at 12 p.m. CT Saturday, May 28
** NCAA SINGLES NOTES **
Audra Cohen becomes the ninth No. 3 seed to reach the NCAA singles final. The No. 3 seed has a 3-5 record in singles finals with the victorious No. 3s being Georgia's Angela Lettiere in 1994, Stanford's Sandra Birch in 1989 and Southern California's Beth Herr in 1983.
Zuzana Zemenova becomes just the fifth unseeded player to advance to the NCAA singles final, and she will attempt to become the first unseeded NCAA champion ever. The other four unseeded player to reach the final -- Ania Bleszynski of Stanford in 1998, M.C. White of Florida in 1997, Keri Phebus of UCLA in 1994 and Gigi Fernandez of Clemson in 1983 -- all lost. The lowest seed to ever win the NCAA singles crown was Stanford's Laura Granville as a 9-16 alphabetical seed in 2000.
Either Audra Cohen or Zuzana Zemenova will become the sixth freshman to win the NCAA singles title. Stanford's Amber Liu was the last first-year player to capture the crown in 2003. The others are: Stanford's Laura Granville in 2000, Stanford's Lilia Osterloh in 1997, Florida's Lisa Raymond in 1992 and Beth Herr of Southen California in 1983. The last all-freshman final occured in 1997 when Osterloh defeated Florida's M.C. White.
Either Audra Cohen or Zuzana Zemenova will become the sixth freshman to win the NCAA singles title. Stanford's Amber Liu was the last first-year player to capture the crown in 2003. The others are: Stanford's Laura Granville in 2000, Stanford's Lilia Osterloh in 1997, Florida's Lisa Raymond in 1992 and Beth Herr of Southen California in 1983. The last all-freshman final occured in 1997 when Osterloh defeated Florida's M.C. White.