Aztecs Win at NCAA Tennis Meet

Getting a decisive victory from the No. 3 doubles team of Tanya Lauer and Paige Hammond, San Diego State defeated Kansas, 5-4, Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Division I women’s tennis championships at Stanford.

Later, all three of the University of San Diego’s doubles teams lost as Mississippi eliminated the Toreros, 5-4, in the first round for the second consecutive year.

In SDSU’s match, with the score, 4-4, Lauer and Hammond easily defeated the Jayhawks’ Casey Cooley and Abby Woods, 6-1, 6-2, and the 14th-seeded Aztecs (13-7) advanced to today’s second round against fourth-seeded Duke, which had a bye in the first round.

Lauer and teammates Nicole Storto and Susheel Gulati won their singles matches, and the score was 3-3 heading into the doubles competition.

At No. 1 doubles, Eveline Hamers and Nora Koves gave Kansas a 4-3 lead with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Storto and Susan Hawke.

Gulati and Eva Olivarez then evened the match again as the Aztec tandem downed Buffy McLiney and Raychaudhuri, 6-3, 6-2.

Getting singles victories from Julie McKeon, Sakolwan Kacharoen, Tracy Ishii and Paula Hansen, USD jumped out to a 4-2 lead in its match before being swept by Mississippi (18-10) in doubles.

USD, seeded 15th, finished 15-5. Kansas, the only school making its first appearance in the draw, finished 19-5.

In other first-round matches, William & Mary became the first school from the East Region to win a match in the women’s tournament when the Tribe beat the University of Miami, 5-4. And USC, the only school other than Stanford to win the title, beat Kentucky, 6-2.

William & Mary, the 19th seed, lost to Miami in the first round last year, but it took two of the three doubles matches this year from the Hurricanes, who were seeded 15th.

USC, which lost to Kentucky during the regular season, won the title in 1983 and ’85. Stanford has won the other eight titles in the 10 years of the event.

The top 12-seeded teams, including No. 7 UCLA and No. 12 Pepperdine, had first-round byes.

In today’s second-round matches, USC faces top-seeded Florida; UCLA takes on No. 10 Indiana; and Pepperdine plays No. 6 Cal.

Additionally, today’s schedule includes: No. 2 Stanford vs. Mississippi; No. 3 Texas vs. William & Mary; No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 11 Tennessee; and No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 9 Arizona.

The quarterfinals will be played Friday, with the semifinals Saturday and the final Sunday.

UC San Diego advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Division III women’s team tournament with a 5-4 victory over Mary Washington in Kalamazoo, Mich.

UCSD’s Catherine Yim and Michelle Wilbur won the deciding match at No. 3 doubles, edging Pia Holm and Trish Whitefield, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Robyn Inaba, Diane Chandler, Amanda Lynch and Wilbur won singles matches for the Tritons.

UCSD, the fourth-seeded team, will play No. 2 Kenyon, an 8-1 winner over St. Thomas, and unseeded Gustavus Adolphus faces No. 1 Pomona Pitzer, in today’s semifinals. The finals are Friday.