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University of Maryland Athletics

Maryland Tennis Teams Head to ACC Championship

Maryland Tennis Teams Head to ACC Championship

April 14, 2004

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Although their regular-season schedules rarely took the same route, on Thursday, April 15, Maryland's men's and women's tennis teams enter post-season play at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament against the same opponent, NC State. Both Terp teams will face off against the Wolfpack at 3 p.m. at the Milbrook Exchange Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C.

Maryland Men

Terp Notes

  • Men's head coach Jim Laitta lead his team to a 8-9 record overall and a 0-8 mark in the ACC. His young team will play as the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed NC State for the chance to play top-seeded North Carolina, Friday.

  • Maryland struggled in conference play during the 2004 season, but shone in non-conference action. Maryland posted a season-high seven shutouts and dropped only one match to an out-of-conference foe. Maryland enters the 2004 conference championship as the only team which does not have full-scholarship funding.

  • Sophomore Ian Bliss (Plainview, N.Y.) leads the Terps with a team-high 10 singles victories while playing all his matches in the top half of the singles lineup. He claimed his biggest victory of the season on April 7 when Maryland hosted No. 15 Virginia at the Tennis Center at College Park. In a long, heated match that was decided by a super-tie breaker, Bliss notched his first conference victory as he defeated Stephen Rozek, 4-6, 7-6, 10-7. The match highlighted Bliss's season after having two previous three-setters end in his opponent's favor.

  • Another New York native who improved with every match was Scott Fink (Roslyn Heights). The newcomer posted the second-highest amount of singles victories, finishing with nine. Fink played mostly in the Nos. 3 and 4 position for the Terps. Although he did not mark up a conference victory, he pushed three league matches into super-tie breakers.

    A Look at the ACC

  • Seven out of nine teams ranked by the ITA. Two teams in the top ten. Numerous players nationally ranked, including three in the top twenty. That is men's tennis in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

  • The end of the regular season took a different turn of events. North Carolina and Virginia finished 7-1 in league play and shared the regular season title. Duke the heavy favorite, fell out of contention for a share of the title when then-No. 15 Virginia won 4-3 over the Blue Devils. North Carolina only loss came at the hands of Duke.

  • The Blue Devils and the Cavs finished the regular season in the top ten with Nos. 6 and 10 rankings respectively. UNC was not far from the pair coming in at No. 13.

    Scouting the Wolfpack

  • Maryland played NC State almost immediately at the start of the 2004 campaign. The Terps were overwhelmed by the Pack and won only one singles match on the afternoon.

  • Junior David Reichsfeld (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) notched the lone win in the lineup as he defeated Jon Davis, 6-3, 6-1. Reichsfeld was the Terps' most consistent performer last season who started off the season with an 11-match win streak. This season the junior has been a versitle role player, playing in four different positions. The Terps' co-captain closed out the regular season with a 7-8 mark in singles.

    Maryland Women

    Terp Notes

  • Women's head coach Martin Novak led his team to an 8-11 record overall and a 2-6 mark in the ACC. His squad will play as the No. 8 seed and will meet No. 9 seed NC State for the chance to play top-seeded Clemson on Friday.

  • The No. 45 Terrapins enter Thursday's matchup with their highest ranking of the season, after having moved up in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's polls for the past three consecutive weeks. NC State dropped out of the polls after losing three-straight matches to end the season.

  • The Terps and the Pack will meet for the second time in six days on Thursday, having faced off Saturday, April 10, in Raleigh, N.C. Maryland won the decision 5-2, with four Terps claiming singles victories.

  • Maryland capped off its regular season with an impressive victory over then-No. 27 Wake Forest. The Terps' 4-3 victory over the Demon Deacon's was their second straight conference victory. The win also marked the highest ranked opponent the Terrapins had defeated since a 5-2 win over then-No. 37 William and Mary on March 30.

  • Maryland's team ranking was not the only thing rising in the past few weeks. Terp sophomore Ramona But (Timisoara, Romania) also rose to a career high. In three weeks, But's ITA ranking vaulted from No. 66 to No. 32. She is tied with teammate Jennifer Dent for a team-high 14 singles victories. But leads the team in conference victories with six while playing mostly in the top two singles spots for the Terrapins. Since moving into the No. 1 singles position, the computer science major has gone 7-9 and rides a four-match win streak heading into ACCs.

  • Battling injuries this season was senior co-captain Emily Marker. She heads to Raleigh, still tabbed as one of the conference's fiercest competitors. Marker holds onto a No. 91 ranking and is the only other Terp besides But to have been ranked by the ITA.

  • Dent has been the most pleasant surprise for Maryland down the stretch. The sophomore improved her game from last season and has flourished in the top-half of the Terps' line up. She is tied with But for a team-high 14 singles victories and once went on a seven-match stretch without dropping a match.

    A Look at the ACC

  • The ACC has been particularly strong this season with all nine teams receiving national recognition by the ITA during some point this season. Since starting out with a preseason ranking of 75, the Terps will enter their conference championship with their highest ranking of the season.

  • Annually known as a conference with ample talent, Maryland competed against some of the nation's best teams. At the end of the regular season, both Clemson and Duke shared spots in the elite top-10, with the Blue Devils finishing at No. 5 and the Tigers sneaking in at No. 9. North Carolina is not far behind the two, with a No. 14-ranking. Snatching the ACC regular season crown was Clemson who finished 8-0 in the conference, and won their first title since 1986.

    Scouting the Wolfpack

  • The Pack finished ninth in the ACC, failing to win a conference match for the second straight year. Third year coach Hans Olsen guided NC State to a 7-11 mark this season.

  • The Wolfpack is lead by No. 61 Barbara Olay. The sophomore hails from Budapest, Hungary, and finished with a 9-7 singles mark, playing in the Nos. 1 and 2 positions.

  • Also standing out is sophomore Nandita Chandrasekar. She finished with a team-high 12 singles victories, most of which came in the No. 3 slot.

  • When the Terps played the Wolfpack recently on April 10, Maryland took four singles matches as well as the doubles point, walking away with a 5-2 win on the road.

  • In doubles, Terp duos of Ramona But (Timisoara, Romania) and Emily Marker (Ann Arbor, Mich.), along with Marianne Baker (Glenelg, Md.) and Neda Mihneva (Sofia, Bulgaria) clinched the doubles point for Maryland with wins in the Nos. 1 and 3 spots respectively.

  • Singles action went the Terps' way as well as they sealed the win with singles victories. Sophomore Ramona But won in the top singles spot over Orlay . Maryland's underclassmen, Baker and Mihneva, finished the job as they swept victories in the bottom-half of the line-up.