Deacons Complete Most Successful Season In Program's History
5/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 30, 2000
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The 2000 Wake Forest women's tennis team recently completed the most successful season in the program's history. The team finished the season with a 24-3 overall record, going 8-0 in the ACC and reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The team was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally, the highest in school history.
After opening up with a 7-0 home court win over Virginia Commonwealth, the Deacs traveled to Madison, Wis. to compete in the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships. In the first round, Wake defeated the fifth-ranked Ole Miss Rebels 4-3. The team then defeated the Pepperdine Wave, ranked sixth nationally, 7-0 to advance to the semi-finals of the tournament. In the semi-finals, Wake fell to third-ranked California, 5-4 in the first overtime match in the history of collegiate tennis. The loss to California would be the only loss the Deacs would suffer in the regular season.
Next, the Deacs defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 5-4 at home and ran its record to 4-1 on the season. Wake then took on the fourth-ranked Florida Gators at theWake Forest Indoor Tennis Center. Wake got its first ever win over Florida in women's tennis with a 5-4 victory to improve the season record to 5-1.
After the victory over Florida, Wake won at South Florida 9-0 before opening ACC play at home with Georgia Tech. Wake defeated the Yellow Jackets 6-3. Next up for the Deacs was 17th-ranked Texas and another 6-3 victory to bring the season record to 8-1.
Over the next two weeks, the Deacons won conference matches at Clemson and Florida State and they won non-conference matches over South Carolina, Tennessee and William & Mary. After these wins, Wake traveled to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils. Wake had not defeated Duke since1989, but the Deacs came out on top with a 6-3 victory to make the Deacs 14-1 overall and 4-0 in the ACC.
After the Duke win, Wake played the next three matches on the road. The Deacs defeated ACC foe N.C. State 9-0, Furman 8-1 and North Carolina in another ACC match 8-1.
Wake then closed out the regular season with a default win over the Maryland Terrapins and an 8-0 win over the Virginia Cavaliers. The Deacs finished the regular season with an overall record of 19-1 and 8-0 in the ACC.
In the ACC Tournament, Wake opened up with North Carolina. The Deacs defeated the Tar Heels 5-1. In the tournament semi-finals, Wake defeated the Florida State Seminoles 5-0 to advance to its sixth-straight ACC Championship match. In the championship match the Deacs faced 12-time defending champion Duke. In a close match, the Deacs fell 5-3 for only their second loss of the season.
For its efforts, the Wake Forest women's tennis team was rewarded by being selected as one of the host teams for the NCAA first and second round regionals. Wake cruised through the two regional matches, defeating Virginia Tech 5-0 in the first round and San Diego State 5-0 in the second round. At the National Championships in Malibu, Cal., Wake defeated Tennessee 5-0 before falling in the quarterfinals to California 5-4.
In the Individual Championships, freshman Bea Bielik reached the round of 16. Bielik and sophomore Janet Bergman reached the quarterfinals in the doubles competition.