Cohen and Applebaum Advance to NCAA Round of 16
May 25, 2006
STANFORD, Calif. – Sophomore Audra Cohen claimed a win in singles and then paired up with senior Melissa Applebaum to win in doubles and advance to the Round of 16 in both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships Thursday at the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University.
Cohen, the No. 1 overall seed, first competed in singles where she defeated Stanford’s 52nd ranked Whitney Deason in three sets. Dropping the first-set 6-4, Cohen went up 5-4 in the first set then won seven straight games to take the match, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0. Cohen improved to 34-1 overall and 22-1 against ranked opponents.
“I came out here really slow and played an awful first set and didn’t really get my heels into the match until halfway through the second set,” said Cohen. “I think early round nerves got to me, but by the time it was the third set, I started to play better tennis and out-competed [Deason]. I played my game, stuck to it and got the `W’. At four-all in the second set, I went up 5-4, and after that I didn’t lose another game the entire match.”
The Plantation, Fla. native will now face Southern California’s 18th ranked Lindsey Nelson in the Round of 16 Friday. Singles action begins at 11:00 a.m. PST. Nelson defeated Texas-Arlington’s Klara Jagasova, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 earlier in the day.
Both Nelson and Cohen squared off at the No. 1 position in Miami’s 4-1 upset over USC in the NCAA Team Semifinals. After splitting sets, both players were battling in the third set before play was halted after the match was decided.
In doubles, Cohen was joined by Applebaum to face FIU’s 20th ranked Paula Zabala and Nikkita Fountain pair. Miami’s second-seeded duo had defeated FIU’s pair twice before during the season. Cohen and Applebaum spared no time winning the first set 6-0 before claiming the second set 6-3 to advance to the Round of 16.
Miami will now face Maryland’s 11th ranked duo of Marianne Baker and Ramona But Friday with doubles action beginning at 11:00 a.m. PST. Maryland’s Baker/But duo defeated Sacramento State’s Margarita Kamavkova and Anastassia Lyssenko, 6-2, 6-2 to advance.
Also on Thursday, Cohen was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III First Team as selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Cohen has accumulated a 3.80 grade point average as a psychology major.
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) selects Academic All-America teams in 12 programs: football, womens volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, mens basketball, womens basketball, baseball, softball, mens track & field/cross country, womens track & field/cross country, mens at-large and womens at-large. A first team, second team and third team are selected in both the University (Division I and I-AA) and College (Division II, III and NAIA) Divisions. Football consists of just first and second teams.
