April 15, 2008

Tournament Notes in PDF Format

2008 Tournament Bracket

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The ninth-seeded Wake Forest women's tennis team is set to begin play at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Thursday against No. 8 seed NC State at 9 a.m. in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The Demon Deacons (8-12, 4-7) suffered a 5-2 regular season loss to the Wolfpack (5-6, 12-9) on April 6, marking the first time Wake Forest has fallen to the Raleigh squad since competition began between the schools in 1977. The winner of the opening round matchup will face No. 1 seed Georgia Tech (10-1, 18-4) on Friday at 9 a.m.

Wake Forest has advanced to the championship finals six times since the tournament was established in its current format in 1987. All title battles have been against Duke; most recently the Deacs fell to the Blue Devils 4-1 in 2001 to take the tourney's runner-up finish.

Coverage of the ACC Women's Tennis Championship will be made available On-Demand every night at 8 p.m. on www.ACCSelect.com from April 17-20. For more tournament information, please visit the ACC's tournament central.

Season Notes

Challenging Slate
The Demon Deacons had one of most competitive schedules in the nation this season, battling seven non-conference opponents ranked in the ITA's Top 35. Wake secured its only upset on February 4 with a 4-3 triumph over 16th-ranked Tennessee in Winston-Salem. In their next contest, the Demon Deacons narrowly missed a second consecutive underdog win, but fell 4-3 to 15th-ranked Notre Dame. Wake's highest ranked non-conference matchup was on March 2, when fourth-ranked Baylor defeated the Deacs 4-0 in Waco, Texas.

Kulikova Builds on 2007 Success
Sophomore Sasha Kulikova, Wake Forest's 2007 MVP, had another successful regular season as Deacon, finishing 15-5 in dual matches and 7-4 in the ACC. The Moscow, Russia native posted a 3-3 mark at the top of the lineup and a 12-2 finish at No. 2, defeating four nationally ranked opponents along the way.

Malvehy Climbs Lineup Latter
After opening the dual match season with ten outings at No.5 singles, freshman Emilee Malvehy (Auburn, Calif.) has played as high as No. 3 and holds Wake's second best conference mark (5-6). On March 29, Malvhey notched her first ranked win of 2008, upending Clemson's Federica Van Adrichem (No. 124) at No. 4.

Field Hockey All-American Joins Squad
Sophomore Field Hockey All-American Aileen Davis joined the Demon Deacons in January. In the Wake Forest field hockey team's road to the 2007 Final Four, Davis (Edinburgh, Scotland) had three goals and four assists to total 10 points for the season. Davis also posted the game-winning goal in the national quarterfinals that pushed the Deacons past Michigan and into the Final Four.

Before enrolling at Wake Forest, Davis was a talented junior tennis player in Scotland, where she played in numerous tournaments.

"Aileen is a great pure athlete and when you can add a player of her caliber to your team it will only make up stronger in the long run," Skorupka said.

Conference Woes
After opening the ACC slate with a four-match win-streak, Wake Forest dropped seven consecutive league matches to end the regular season. On April 6 NC State defeated the Demon Deacons for the first time since the schools began competition in 1977.

Injuries Stunt WFU Progress
The Deacons have had several disappointing setbacks with injuries this season. A stress fracture prematurely ended the career of senior Alex Hirsch, the primary No. 1 singles athlete for the past two years. Hirsch's last outing was on March 30 against Georgia Tech.

Ana Jerman underwent surgery on her hand in the fall, but after 12 matches playing primarily in doubles, a reoccurring shoulder injury sidelined the junior for the remainder of the season.

After battling illness for several weeks, junior Sierra Poske was forced out of play for the last four matches of the season with a minor injury. Since Poske was the completed the six-man lineup, the Demon Deacons were forced to forfeit a doubles and singles contest against North Carolina, NC State, Florida State and Miami.

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