Colorado University Athletics
Milewski Earns 2007 NCAA Singles Tournament Berth
May 02, 2007 | Tennis
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - University of Colorado sophomore Monica Milewski was named one of 64 women's tennis players selected to participate in the NCAA Division I Singles Championships at the University of Georgia, announced Wednesday.
Milewski is the first CU women's student-athlete in 22 years (1985) to earn an invitation to the field of 64 and only the fourth women since the singles tournament began in 1982.
The singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 18-22). Milewski was one of 45 women who received at-large selections, while the other 19 were conference automatic selections.
Earlier in the week, Milewski was one of three Big 12 women unanimously selected to the All-Big 12 singles team.
Milewski is currently the No. 38th nationally ranked singles player in the latest top-125 poll administered by Fila and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). She is also one of six women from the Big 12 Conference participating in the national singles competition.
The Park Ridge, Ill., native displayed one of the best individual performances in school history winning 25 singles matches, while becoming the 19th women to win that many matches during the year.
In dual play, she collected 16 victories at the No. 1 slot helping the Buffaloes win 16 times, the most team victories since the 1999 season. Eight of those individual triumphs came against Big 12 Conference competition.
Milewski started the 2006-07 campaign winning her first six matches, including three straight qualifying matches and two over nationally ranked players to reach the qualifying round of the Riveria/ITA All-American Championships. She became the first CU women in 15 years to reach the main draw and finished the fall season with nine victories.
During the spring, she clinched six of CU's 16 team wins, none bigger than rallying from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits in the final set and defeating then-No. 5 Megan Moulton-Levy of William & Mary, clinching the Buffs' upset of the then-No. 12 Tribe. Milewski was the only woman in the Big 12 to earn a pair of conference Player of the Week honors outright (Feb. 26-Mar. 4, Mar. 2-8), and the only CU women to be ranked among the Fila/ITA singles rankings during the year.
Milewski and her CU teammates are the third women's tennis team since 1999 to earn a NCAA Tournament berth. The Buffaloes (16-7), ranked No. 37 nationally will play the No. 23 Michigan Wolverines (16-7) in the first round on May 12 at 10 a.m. (MST) in South Bend, Ind.
The CU/UM winner will play either No. 7 Notre Dame (25-3) or Illinois-Chicago (15-6) on May 13 at 10 a.m. (MST).
Past CU Singles NCAA Participants:
1985 - Kathleen Heckman (lost in 1st round to Southern California's Mary Norwood, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in Oklahoma City.
1982 - Kathleen Cummings, as No. 8 seed reached semifinals at inaugural NCAA women's tournament in Salt Lake City. (1st round: defeated Karen Heubner, UCLA 7-6, 7-6; 2nd round: defeated Jamie Golder, Miami, Fla. 6-4, 4-6, 6-4; 3rd round: defeated Felicia Raschiatore, Trinity (Texas) 6-1, 6-1; Quarterfinals: beat No. 1 seed Vicki Nelson, Rollins (Fla.) 6-4, 6-7, 6-2; semifinal: lost to eventual champion Alycia Moulton, Stanford, 6-1, 6-2.
1982 - Shannon Reide: lost in 1st Round to Helena Mansett, UCLA, 6-4, 6-2.
NCAA Singles Participants from the Big 12:
Monica Milewski, Colorado
Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor
Zuzana Cerna, Baylor
Vanja Corovic, Texas
Anna Lubinsky, Texas A&M
Imke Reimers, Nebraska
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