May 21, 2008
NCAA Singles Championship Bracket 
NCAA Doubles Championship Bracket
TULSA, Okla. -- Upon completion of the NCAA singles championship first round, two of four Wildcats defeated their opponents and will advance to Thursday's second round. Georgia Rose (Mettawa, Ill./North Shore Country Day) and Lauren Lui (Houston, Texas/Kinkaid) will begin their journey toward a doubles title in Thursday's first-round match, taking on the No. 1 seed from UCLA.
The singles championship field consists of the nation's top 64 collegiate women's tennis players. The players are seeded individually 1-8, with the next tier of individuals grouped as a 9-16 seed. The remaining 48 singles players are not seeded. In addition, 32 of the best doubles team are selected to compete for a championship concurrently. Only the top four tandems receive a seed in doubles, with the next tier earning a 5-8 group seed.
In the opening round Wednesday, No. 4 overall seed Maria Mosolova (Moscow, Russia/No. 204) kicked off the tournament for Northwestern and began play just after 5 p.m. against Arizona State's Kelcy McKenna. After dropping the first set, 6-4, and going down 2-0 in the second, Mosolova found her rhythm and won the final two frames, 6-2, 6-0.
At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mosolova will face Big Ten foe, Michigan's Chisako Sugiyama, in the second round of singles. Sugiyama defeated Georgia Tech's Maya Johansson 6-3, 6-4 in the first round Wednesday. Earlier this season, Mosolova faced Sugiyama in the Big Ten title match and led 6-0, 5-4 before their match went unfinished at No. 1.
Lui also will advance after a magnificent come-from-behind victory over California's Susie Babos, the 2006 NCAA singles champion. After Babos took the first set 6-2, and a 5-2 lead in the second, it appeared to be the end of the road for Lui's bid at a singles title. However, winning five straight games in the second and an incredible win in a tiebreaker third set gave Lui the 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) victory over the nation's 20th-ranked Babos.
With the win, Lui advances to the second round of the singles title at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and has another tough task at hand when she faces Southern California's Amanda Fink, the tournament's No. 6 overall seed. Fink defeated Florida's Julie Cohen 6-4, 6-0 in the first round Wednesday. Thursday will mark the first meeting between Lui and Fink.
Samantha Murray (Altrincham, England/Altrincham Grammar) started her opening round match looking confident early. After a 6-4 first-set victory her opponent, Clemson's Carol Salge, found a groove and took the second set 6-3. With a third set forced to decide the match, Salge prevailed through a tightly contested battle, winning 6-3 and ending Murray's bid for a singles title.
Rose rounded out the first round singles for Northwestern in a difficult matchup with UCLA's Tracy Lin. Despite falling ill before and during the match, Rose played with toughness and will, determined to finish the match. Rose ultimately fell 6-4, 6-3, but went down with a true testament to her character on display.
In addition to Thursday's second round of singles play, Rose and Lui will begin their quest for the doubles crown at 6 p.m. Thursday. In their first matchup, the duo's skills are certain to be tested as they face off with the No. 1-seeded Tracy Lin and Riza Zalameda from UCLA.
The NCAA singles and doubles championships are being held at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, May 21-26. For additional tournament information including live stats, video, brackets and more, please visit Tulsa's official championships homepage.
For the entire singles and doubles championships brackets, please click the PDF links above. Below is Thursday's tournament schedule.
No. 4 Maria Mosolova vs. Chisako Sugiyama (Michigan), 1:30 p.m.
Lauren Lui vs. No. 6 Amanda Fink (Southern Cal), 12:30 p.m.
Georgia Rose/Lauren Lui vs. No. 1 Tracy Lin/Riza Zalameda (UCLA), 6 p.m.