Griffin and Bittles Look to Make Statement in Women's Tennis NCAAs
6/21/1999 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 10, 1999
College Park, Md. - Senior Meg Griffin (Topeka, Kan.) was selected for the singles competition and will join junior Lorraine Bittles (Nashville, Tenn.) for their second consecutive doubles appearance.
Individually, Griffin becomes the third Maryland women's tennis player to qualify for singles. Jeri Ingram, in 1989, and Claudia Borgiani, in 1985, reached post-season play after both were ACC No. 1 singles champs.
Griffin and Bittles, currently No. 20, have been ranked for the last two years. In 1998, the duo was ousted by a 19th-ranked team from Marquette in three grueling sets. They have a 19-11 record so far this season. The brackets for the individual tournament, to be held in Gainesville, Fla., from May 24-28, will be released later this week.
BIG TEN SELECTIONS FOR TOURNAMENT LEAVE ACC SCHOOLS PUZZLED
When the NCAA team qualifiers were announced on May 5, the No. 43 Terrapins were left stunned by their omittance. In fact, Maryland joins two other top 50 ACC schools - Georgia Tech and Virginia - who also believed that they had been locks. Surprisingly, the NCAA honored six Big 10 teams and only four ACC schools, despite a decisive 14-1 regular season edge by the ACC in head-to-head duals. In the latest ITA rankings (see box), four Big 10 teams were selected over the No. 40 Yellow Jackets including below-.500 Wisconsin.
GRIFFIN EARNS SECOND ALL-ACC SELECTION
Meg Griffin has been named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference women's tennis team for the second straight season. Playing in both the No. 1 singles and doubles spots for the Terps, she is currently ranked third in the East Region individually and first for doubles. Duke's Vanessa Webb was named conference player of the year for the second consecutive season and Wake Forest's Janet Bergman earned rookie of the year accolades.
MARYLAND COACH JIM LAITTA
In his ninth season, Jim Laitta (Eastern Kentucky 89) has taken what once was an underfunded program onto the national tennis scene. He has led the Terps to the school's first two NCAA appearances as well as finishes in the top half of the conference for the past few years. In 1996, he was named both ACC and NCAA Region I Coach of the Year by his peers. Before Maryland, he was the head women's coach at Mississippi State University. While there, the program finished in the national Top 20 and captured an NCAA doubles championship. Laitta played collegiately at Eastern Kentucky University where he was team captain and played No. 1 singles and doubles.
NEXT TERPS MEET
1999 NCAA Finals
May 20-26
Site: Gainesville, Fla.
Terps on the Internet:
Complete Maryland Women's Tennis results and statistics and all the latest Terps scores, schedules and news can be accessed at: www.umterps.com
1998-99 Maryland Records
ALL MATCHES ACC MATCHES
Name Fall Spr. No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 Overall
M. Griffin 8-7 12-8 3-6 20-15
L. Bittles 7-8 10-6 1-2 0-1 4-4 0-1 18-17
S. Walkowitz 8-6 3-3 10-4 0-1 4-3 21-13
C. Terrill 7-6 0-1 11-7 2-6 18-14
T. Ivanisevic 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1
A. Pavelko 4-7 5-13 0-2 1-7 0-1 9-22
C. Perkins 4-4 0-2 13-5 0-1 4-3 17-11
Name Fall Spring No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 Overall
M. Griffin/L. Bittles 7-6 12-5 3-5 19-11
S. Walkowitz/C. Terrill 4-5 13-3 5-2 17-8
A. Pavelko/C. Perkins 0-0 10-8 3-5 9-7
M. Griffin/C. Terrill 0-0 0-1 0-1
