FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 1, 2001

Title         Final Day ITA New England Story

Date        September 30, 2001

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Williamstown, MA -- Williams College senior Selma Kikic battled back from a first set tie-breaker loss to down Amherst's Stephanie Fong 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-2 to successfully defend her ITA New England regional singles title.

Kikic then teamed up with sophomore Stephanie Hall to capture the doubles title with a win over Amherst's Stephanie Fong and Heather Cole 8-5.

This year's singles and doubles draws featured the best players in the ITA New England region and the fans had an opportunity to watch great tennis throughout the duration of the tournament. The next big event is the New Englands tournament to be held on Oct. 19-21 at Amherst College, MA

In Colby women's tennis action, the four singles players and the two doubles teams faired extremely well and give a glimpse of what is to come over the next years for Colby women's tennis.

In singles action, the biggest surprise was #8 ranked Sara Hughes (ranked Colby's #1).  She made her way to the quarter-finals and lost to the #1 ranked and NCAA National Champion and ITA eventual champion, Williams' Selma Kikic, 6-1, 6-0.  Along the way, Hughes defeated Connecticut College's Chrissy Nevins-Herbert, 6-0, 6-1; defeated Bowdoin College's Sanida Kikic, 6-3, 6-1; and defeated Amherst College's Heather Cole, 6-3, 6-2. 

Also for Colby, Christina Pluto and Britt Palmedo made their way to the 32's.  Christina Pluto, ranked Colby's #3, lost to the #2 ranked for Williams College, Jasmine Bradley in three tough sets taking the first set 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.  Pluto defeated RPI's Kristin Powers, 6-1, 6-0.  Britt Palmedo, ranked #2 for Colby, lost to the eventual runner-up of the ITA championships, Amherst College's Stephanie Fong, 6-2, 6-3.  Palmedo advanced to the 32's with a win over Brandeis University's Vera Chen, 7-6/4, 6-3.  Lastly, in Colby women's singles action, Caren Harris, ranked #4 for Colby, lost in the first round to Muhlenberg College's Gena Ross in three sets, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.

In doubles action, Colby's #1 seeded team of Sara Hughes and Christina Pluto got ousted in the first round by Amherst College's duo of Susanna Burke and Rachel Holt, who eventually made their way to the semifinals, 8-3.  Colby's #2 seeded doubles team, of Britt Palmedo and Caren Harris, made their way to the sweet sixteen before losing a tough battle against Trinity College's pair of Mimi Krueger and Britt Olwine, 8-6.  Along the way, Palmedo and Harris disposed of Muhlenberg College's duo of Gena Ross and Emily Oster, 8-5.

ITA New England Region -- Final Singles Results

ITA New England Region -- Final Doubles Results