May 26, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. - Texas A&M's Nazari Urbina (pronounced na-ZAR-ee ur-BEE-nah) was eliminated in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Singles today, falling to No. 9-16 seed and 11th-ranked Caitlin Whoriskey of Tennessee, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, on the McWhorter Courts at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Ga.
Urbina (Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico), A&M's first-ever freshman to compete in the prestigious event, ends her rookie season 32-6 (.842), ranking fourth in the A&M all-time records for wins and second for winning percentage in a single season.
"I played well in the first set," said Urbina, who was going up against the 2010 ITA National Senior Player of the Year. "(Whoriskey) was kind of inconsistent, especially with her forehand, so I started out playing pretty well, pretty solid."
Whoriskey, making her third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Singles Championships, settled down in the second set, and her strong serve carried her throughout the remainder of the match.
"I couldn't break her serve in the second set or the third set," Urbina said. "She has a really good first serve and a good second serve, and that was the key pretty much for the whole match.
"In the second set, she started to play a little bit more aggressive. She started to be more consistent with the forehand, and her backhand started to play a little bit better. She had more slice and mixed up her game more. That was all working for her, but the key was her serve.
"In the third set, we were at 3-all and I was up with my serve 40-30. She played really well that game and came back and broke and went on to win the next two games. She is a good player and it was a good, tough match."
Whoriskey advances to the second round for the first time in her career. The Massachusetts native, who played the No. 1 line for the Lady Volunteers and led Tennessee to the quarterfinals of the NCAA team championships, improves to 32-12 and will face Georgia's Nadja Gilchrist, who defeated Nadine Fahoum of Old Dominion, 6-3, 6-1.
"I was more excited than nervous, and was I looking forward to playing this tournament," Urbina said about her first experience at the NCAA Singles Championship. "I was very happy that I got in. You are still representing your team and university, but it was weird not having my teammates.
"I'm happy I got to play this tournament, and I wish we could have gotten in with doubles. Hopefully I will come back next year. I just have to keep working hard and training hard and improve my game in doubles and singles. Just keep working hard."
Aggie senior teammate Elzé Potgieter (pronounced el-ZAY POT-geeter) will be appearing in her first NCAA Singles Championships later today when she faces 31st-ranked Alison Ramos of USC at 4:30 p.m. (CT) in the first round.
It marks the first time in school history A&M has had two players competing in the NCAA Singles Championship 64-player field.
Live scoring and live video of Potgieter's match will be available at the tournament central page: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/c-tennis/champpage/c-tennis-div1-index.html
More on Urbina: Urbina was named the 2010 ITA Texas Region Player to Watch. She entered the NCAA Singles Championship listed No. 51 in the ITA rankings. An All-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles and the Big 12 Conference No. 2 singles champion with a 10-0 record, she entered the first round of the NCAA Singles Championships riding a nine-match winning streak.
Urbina went 9-4 against nationally ranked players, including a straight-set 6-3, 6-4 victory over 18th-ranked Nina Secerbegovic of Baylor at the No. 2 line on April 14, as well as a 6-3, 6-3 win against 43rd-ranked Irene Rehberger at the No. 1 position in the Aggies' season-ending 4-2 loss to No. 26 South Florida in the first round of the NCAA Championships. Urbina was 21-2 in dual matches only, going 2-1 at the No. 1 line, 14-0 at No. 2 and 5-1 at No. 3.
Potgieter and Urbina were alternates for the NCAA Doubles Championships but did not make it into the 32-team bracket.