Three Deacons Earn All-American Honors
5/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 30, 2000
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Three members of the Wake Forest University women's tennis team - freshmen Adria Engel and Bea Bielik and sophomore Janet Bergman - have all earned All-American status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
The Deacon trio becomes the eighth, ninth and 10th All-Americans in Wake Forest history. This marks the first time since 1994 that three different Wake Forest players earned All-American honors in the same year. At least one Deac player has earned All-American status in each of the last five years.
"All three of these players are very deserving of All-American status," head coach Brian Fleishman said. "They were one of the main reasons for our success this season. Their match play was impeccable and they lost very rarely."
Engel earned All-American honors based on her impressive No. 3 seed in the NCAA Championships last week in Malibu (Calif.). She is coming off a sparkling rookie season in which she set a school record and a Wake Forest freshman record for victories in one season (45). She played No. 1 the majority of the 2000 season for a Wake Forest team that finished 24-3 overall.
Bielik automatically earned ITA All-American honors by advancing to the round of 16 last week at the NCAA individual championships. The freshman also qualified for the prestigious honor when she teamed with Bergman to reach the quarterfinals of the doubles competition.
Bergman qualified for All-American honors by advancing to the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament with Bielik. An all-conference performer in 2000, Bergman was one of three Deacon players to compete in the individual competition at the NCAA Championship last week.
As a team, Wake Forest completed the 2000 season with a 24-3 record in dual match play, including an unblemished 8-0 mark in the ACC.
Wake Forest will actually return four All-Americans next season. Mariel Verban, who earned the honor last year as a sophomore, sat out the 2000 spring season with an injury.
