September 29, 2003
Browder Reaches Semis in
Singles and Doubles at ITA Regionals

FREDERICKSBURG, VA -- The Washington College women's tennis team competed at the ITA Southeast Regionals Saturday, Sunday, and this morning at Mary Washington College. Senior Ne'ko Browder (Bronx, NY/Herbert H. Lehman) reached the semifinals in the main draw of singles play and teamed with senior Shoko Nakamura (Osaka, Japan/Osaka Jogakuin) to advance to the semifinals in the main draw of doubles play.

Browder, who was seeded third in singles, opened singles play with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Nicole Leasure of Grove City. She then defeated Emily Townsend of Swarthmore, 6-3, 6-4, in the second round and Lara Farris of Washington & Lee, 6-0, 6-1, in the third round. In the quarterfinals, she bested Caroline Celano of Swarthmore, 6-2, 6-0. Browder was eliminated by the top seed in singles, Washington & Lee's Lindsay Hagerman, 6-4, 6-1, in the semifinals.

Nakamura, who was seeded seventh in singles, advanced to the third round in the main draw of singles play after defeating Rosa Nowosielski of Hood, 6-2, 6-0, in the first round and Amanda Haines of Washington & Lee, 6-3, 0-6, 6-0 in the second round. Senior Linda Hooks (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown) also competed in the main draw of singles, defeating Katie English of Averett, 6-1, 6-0, in round one before losing in the second round.

Browder and Nakamura were seeded first in the main draw of doubles. They bested Patty Phinney and Katie Weingarten of Meredith, 8-1, in the first round and Allison Atwood and Julie Crewson of Grove City, 8-2, in the second round. The WC tandem downed Swarthmore's Kristina Pao and Waverly Lutz, 8-5, in the quarterfinals but then fell to third-seeded Anjani Reddy and Sanya Reynolds of Swarthmore, 8-4, in the semifinals.

In the "B draw" of singles, junior Samantha Halpin (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) won a pair of matches before falling in round three, while sophomore Jaclyn Moore (Wenonah, NJ/Gateway Regional) advanced to the second round. Senior Christina Vouros (Salisbury, MD/Worcester Prep) lost in the first round of "B draw" singles, but then won one match in the consolation bracket before being eliminated.

The teams of Vouros and Moore and Hooks and Halpin both lost their opening matches in "B draw" doubles, but bounced back to win one match in the consolation bracket before falling in the consolation quarterfinals.

First-year head coach Constantine Ananiadis was pleased with his first look at his players in competition. "I'm happy with how we played in our first tournament. Everyone played several matches and that experience will help us this season. We do have some things to work on in practice, but there is a lot of talent on this team overall," remarked Ananiadis.

The Shorewomen return to action October 11th and 12th at the Washington & Lee Fall Festival.

Full Washington College results from the ITA Southeast Regionals appear below.