May 26, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. - Texas A&M's Elzé Potgieter (pronounced el-ZAY POT-geeter) was eliminated in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Singles Championship this afternoon, falling to 31st-ranked Alison Ramos of USC, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on the McWhorter Courts at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga.
It was the first time in school history A&M had two players competing in the NCAA Women's Singles Championship 64-player field, but neither player advanced past the round of 64 as Aggie freshman Nazari Urbina (pronounced na-ZAR-ee ur-BEE-nah) also suffered a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 first-round loss to No. 9-16 seed and 11th-ranked Caitlin Whoriskey of Tennessee earlier in the day.
"At this tournament, no one is going to give you anything," A&M head coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "We came out and won the first set in each of our matches, but both opponents picked up their games in the second set and we didn't."
Potgieter, a senior from Bloemfontein, South Africa, dropped the first two games to open the match but then won six of the next seven games to race to a 6-3 first-set win. Potgieter extended her winning streak to five games by winning the first two games of the second set and went on to take a 3-1 lead, but Ramos rallied, reeling off six straight games to win the second set and even the match at a set apiece.
Potgieter won the opening game of the final set, but it would be the only lead she would hold in the final frame. Ramos, a sophomore who also was making her first appearance at the NCAAs, won the next four games en route to the match, capping a 6-2 third-set victory.
Potgieter, No. 56 in the most recent national singles rankings, has been ranked as high as No. 33 this season. During the spring season, she played all but three matches at the No. 1 line, where she went 11-10. Potgieter, who opened the spring season with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over then-No. 9 Josipa Bek of Clemson, finishes the season 20-16 overall, and her 90 career victories ranks seventh in the A&M records.
"Elzé had a good career for us, and I'm glad she was able to finish it at the NCAAs," Kleinecke said.
Ramos improves to 26-16 overall and advances to the second round, where she will face 15th-ranked and No. 9-16 seed Venise Chan of Washington. Chan defeated 28th-ranked Marta Lesniak of SMU, 1-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the first round
Potgieter and Urbina were alternates for the NCAA Doubles Championships but did not make it into the 32-team bracket.
2010 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
May 25-31, 2010
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
Athens, Ga.
SINGLES
Round of 64
(11) Caitlin Whoriskey (Tennessee) def. (51) Nazari Urbina (Texas A&M), 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
(31) Alison Ramos (USC) def. (56) Elzé Potgieter (Texas A&M), 3-6, 6-3, 6-2