NCAA Division III Women’s Tennis : UCSD Turns Rebuilding Season into a Championship Season

The UC San Diego women’s tennis team entered this season with only two returning starters, no seniors and three freshmen.

Wednesday, at Kalamazoo, Mich., UCSD finished the season by defeating Occidental College, 6-3, to win the NCAA Division III championship.

In winning, UCSD (16-6) avenged its only divisional defeat of the season, a 5-4 loss to Occidental in February.

“We were pretty much a new team,” UCSD Coach Liz LaPlante said. “Coming into the tournament, I knew I had a strong team. I didn’t know what our chances were.”

UCSD, which was seeded third, won five of six singles matches, and that decided the title while the doubles were still being played.

“They were high-fiving it on the court during the doubles,” said LaPlante. “We talked about winning so much, and they just got psyched up and did it.”

UCSD freshman Christine Behrens was one of the singles winners, defeating Kristin Carter, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Her first-set loss was only the second set she has dropped in the last 32 this season, and she remained undefeated in Division III play.

UCSD has played in the Division III eight-team tournament five of the past six seasons, winning in 1985 and finishing second in 1982 and 1984.

Behrens is the second seed in the singles tournament and will play teammate Nancy Calhoun, a sophomore, in the quarterfinals today.