News & Features
College Feature
Devvarman and McDowell Claim NCAA Singles Crowns
Pac-10 Teams Take Doubles Titles
by
Colette Lewis, 29 May 2008
The Atlantic Coast Conference swept the NCAA singles championships on Monday at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa, with defending champion Somdev Devvarman of Virginia and Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech posting convincing victories in the finals. Devvarman defeated Tennessee freshman JP Smith 6-3, 6-2, while McDowell downed 2005 NCAA champion Zuzana Zemenova of Baylor 6-2, 6-3.
Their paths to the championships were decidedly different however. Although each was stung by an unexpectedly early departure in the team event - third seeded Georgia Tech fell to No. 6 seed
Florida in the quarterfinals and top seed Virginia lost to No. 4
Georgia in the semifinals - their first round matches in the individual event demonstrated that there's more than one way to cope with disappointment and more than one route to a title.
Devvarman, ranked No. 1 throughout the year after winning the 2007 title in a third-set tiebreaker over hometown favorite John Isner in Athens, posted a routine 6-1, 6-3 over Vanderbilt's Ryan Preston to open singles play. But McDowell's first round Commodore opponent, Amanda Taylor, held four match points against the seventh seeded Yellow Jacket.
This Article Is Available Only to Recruiting Advantage members
Please log in to access premium TennisRecruiting.net content.
