WOMEN’S TENNIS NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : Novelo Surprises Top-Seeded McGrath

Lupita Novelo of USC upset top-ranked Meredith McGrath of Stanford, 6-3, 6-3, in one of three second-round upsets Monday at the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships.

Fourth-seeded Trisha Laux of USC and No. 8 Shannan McCarthy of Georgia also lost.

Novelo, ranked No. 26, played an aggressive, attacking match and served well to eliminate McGrath.

“That’s my biggest win in college tennis,” said Novelo, a senior from San Diego. “I knew that I had to attack her or she’d kill me. I just decided to play hard every point.”

McGrath, from Midland, Mich., led Stanford to its fifth consecutive team title last week with four straight-set victories in a row.

“I was tired, but so was everybody else,” McGrath said. “I went out there and didn’t play nearly as well as I’ve been playing. I never got a good feeling out there, and I never could turn it around.”

Carla Cossa of Texas defeated Laux, 6-4, 6-2, and Eveline Hamers of Kansas beat McCarthy, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

No. 2 Ginger Helgeson of Pepperdine struggled past Emilie Viqueira of California, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

“I feel like I have a little bit of sunstroke,” said Helgeson, whose match lasted 3 hours 8 minutes. “My head was a pressure-cooker out there.”

Also advancing to the quarterfinals were No. 3 Andrea Farley of Florida, No. 5 Sandra Birch of Stanford, No. 6 Debbie Graham of Stanford and No. 7 Nicole Arendt of Florida.