University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE JUMPS TWO SPOTS IN FINAL RANKINGS
May 31, 2002 | Women's Tennis
May 31, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
A month ago, the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer tennis team entered the NCAA Tournament as the 13th seed and ranked 14th in the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Team Rankings. After a historic run to the national semifinals, which included a 4-1 upset of No. 6 Vanderbilt, the Lady Vols improved two spots to No. 12 in the final ratings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, released on Friday.
Tennessee finished the season with a 21-10 mark and was 7-4 in Southeastern Conference matches. Ranking ahead of the Lady Vols were Stanford, Florida, Georgia, UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Arizona State, Texas and Southern California.
"It is hard to be disappointed with this year after the way we finished," said co-head coach Mike Patrick. "After a bumpy season filled with injuries, I think that we ended up in a great position."
The ITA also revealed its final singles and doubles rankings. Four Lady Vols appear on one or both lists. Junior Vilmarie Castellvi, who amassed an impressive 44-8 record in singles, leads the way by snagging the No. 4 spot behind No. 1-ranked and NCAA Champion Bea Bielik of Wake Forest, No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff of Florida and No. 3 Gabriela Lastra from Stanford. Both Lehnhoff and Lastra are seniors, making Castellvi the No. 2 returning player in the country next year. The Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, native became the 10th Lady Vol to earn All-America status in tennis when she was seeded 9-16 at the NCAA Tournament. Castellvi proceeded to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to Lehnhoff. Fourth is the highest a Lady Vol has ever been rated in the National Singles Ranking.
"Vilmarie has had an incredible year," Patrick said. "She has really grown as a tennis player and has the desire to continue to grow. I expect her to maintain this level of play throughout her senior season. It will be exciting to see how things will progress for her."
Joining Castellvi on the singles list is senior Alison Ojeda, who comes in at No. 26. The San Antonio, Texas native ended up with a 28-16 singles tally while closing out her career as just the third Lady Vol to reach the 100-win plateau in both singles and doubles.
"Alison made such an impact on this program it is nice to see her go out on top," Patrick said. "In a lot of ways this was her toughest year and she struggled at times, but in the end that Ojeda-spirit came through." On the doubles' side of things, Castellvi and senior Agnes Wiski earned a final ranking of No. 15, moving up two spaces, after advancing to the second round of the NCAA tourney. The top Orange and White duo blazed to a 30-13 record in 2001-02 and on their way picked up All-SEC honors. Ojeda and junior Crystal Cleveland received a final rating of No. 59, despite the fact that the pair did not compete together for much of the later part of UT's season.
"You know, doubles wasn't our strong suit this season," Patrick said. "We mixed things up throughout the season, so for Alison and Crystal to notch quality wins early that kept them in the rankings is a testament to them and their desire to succeed."
Patrick and co-head coach Sonia Hahn-Patrick have said good-bye to Ojeda, Wiski and fellow senior Kim Gates. However, the Orange and White coaching duo is still optimistic about next season. Not only do the Lady Vols return Castellvi and Cleveland, but also freshman Ashley Robards, who anchored the team at No. 6 this season. UT will welcome two newcomers and hope to have the services of sophomores-to-be Majen Immink and Breanna Kray, both of whom missed much of 2001-02 with various injuries.
Players Mentioned
