Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Tennis Competes in ACC Championships
4/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 18, 2002
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WAKE FOREST WOMEN'S TENNIS NEWS & NOTES
2001-02 Wake Forest Women's Tennis
ACC Championships * April 19-21 * Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center * Raleigh, N.C.
2001-02 Demon Deacons at a Glance
Overall Record: 20-4
ACC Record: 6-2
ACC Regular Season Finish: 3rd
National Rank: 7th
Wake Forest's ACC Championship Lineup
Singles
No. 1 Bea Bielik
No. 2 Janet Bergman
No. 3 Maren Haus
No. 4 Karin Coetzee
No. 5 Katie Martzolf
No. 6 Danielle Schwartz
Doubles
No. 1 Bergman/Bielik
No. 2 Coetzee/Aimee Smith
No. 3 Martzolf/Schwartz
Women's Tennis to Compete in ACC Championships...
The seventh-ranked Wake Forest women's tennis team participates in the ACC Championships this weekend at the Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center in Raleigh, N.C. The Demon Deacons enter the tournament as the third seed with a 20-4 overall record and 6-2 mark in league play.
The women's tennis championships return to the state of North Carolina for the first time since the 1994 season. Since the tournament began in 1977, this will be just the second time (and first since 1987) that the event will take place in Raleigh.
Wake Forest is riding a streak of seven straight runner-up finishes in ACC Tournament play, dating back to 1995. The Deacs have faced Duke in the last seven ACC finals, as the Blue Devils have won 14 straight conference crowns.
Deacons Earn No. 3 Seed, Face Virginia on Friday...
After seven straight years of being the No. 2 or No. 1 seed, the Deacons enter the 2002 Championships as the No. 3 seed. A loss at top-seeded Duke as well as North Carolina during the regular season places Wake Forest in the 3 vs. 6 quarterfinal with Virginia on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
The match will have a familiar look to it, as the Deacons wrapped up the regular season just last Sunday with the 60th-ranked Cavaliers. WFU defeated Virginia 5-2 in that meeting, which took place at Wake's Leighton Tennis Stadium. A win over Virginia would give the Deacs a spot in the semifinals versus the winner between North Carolina vs. FSU/Maryland. That semifinal would take place Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
Wake Forest is 3-1 versus Virginia when facing the Cavaliers in the ACC Tournament. The Deacs own a 19-11 record in the overall series, dating back to 1978.
A Quick Look at the Deacon Lineup...
Wake Forest's fields a relatively young lineup, with three freshmen, a sophomore, a junior and two seniors expected to compete this weekend.
Junior Bea Bielik (Valley Stream, N.Y.) tops the Deacon lineup at both No. 1 singles and doubles. Bielik, ranked second nationally in singles and fourth in doubles, is questionable for action after spraining her ankle on April 11. Bielik finished the regular season with a 25-2 singles record, including a 4-1 mark in the ACC at the top spot. For the third straight year, she's teamed up with senior Janet Bergman (Pinehurst, N.C.) to form the nation's fourth-ranked doubles tandem. The duo has posted a 31-3 record this season with a 5-1 ledger in ACC play. In fact, their only loss in dual match play this spring came against Duke on April 11.
Bergman, ranked 21st nationally in singles, plays at No. 2 in the lineup, compiling a 25-11 (6-2 ACC) record so far this season.
The Nos. 3, 4, and 5 singles spots have been interchangeable between senior Maren Haus (Brielle, N.J.), freshman Karin Coetzee (Bloemfontein, South Africa) and freshman Katie Martzolf (Indianapolis, Ind.). Haus is slated to play at No. 3 this weekend after compiling a 20-17 in singles so far this year. Coetzee, who has given a solid performance after joining the team in January, will play No. 4 this weekend after putting together a 13-4 mark, including a 6-2 record versus league opponents. Martzolf, ranked 100th nationally with a 26-8 singles record, is slated for the No. 5 spot.
Freshman Danielle Schwartz (Livingston, N.J.) rounds out the Deacon lineup at No. 6 singles. After using the fall to recover from elbow surgery, Schwartz returned to action in January and has a 10-7 record, including a 3-2 mark versus the ACC.
Elizabeth Proctor (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and Aimee Smith (Norcross, Ga.) could see action at singles. Both sophomores, Proctor has posted a 4-6 record in dual matches this spring while Smith has gone 5-5, mainly at Nos. 5 and 6 singles.
Head Coach Brian Fleishman...
Wake Forest head coach Brian Fleishman, in his fourth year at the helm of the Deacon program, continues to lift the program to new heights. He has compiled a 72-21 record as a head coach, all at WFU. The 2000 ACC Coach of the Year, Fleishman has led the Deacs to three straight NCAA appearances and a school-record 24 dual wins in 2000. He has coached seven All-Americas during his tenure at Wake, which included two seasons (1997-98) as an assistant coach. Under Fleishman's guidance, the Deacons have recorded a 21-3 ACC record the last three seasons and are 6-3 in ACC Tournament play.
A 1991 graduate of Christopher Newport University, Fleishman served as an assistant coach at William and Mary before coming to Winston-Salem.
Wake Forest in the ACC Championship...
Second place has become a familiar position for the Wake Forest women's tennis team, as they have finished as ACC runners-up in the last seven conference championships. Since the ACC started using the post-season tournament as its method of determining the league team champion in 1990, Duke has captured the crown all 12 times, while Wake was the runner-up in 1992 and 1995-2001.
While Wake has never won the ACC women's tennis title since tournament play began in 1977, it has placed second 10 times, and has advanced to the semifinals on four other occasions.
A Look Back at the 2001 ACC Tournament...
ORLANDO, Fla. --- After posting a 4-0 win over Clemson and defeating Virginia, 4-1, in the semifinals, the second-seeded Wake Forest women's tennis team found themselves in a familiar place - versus top-seeded Duke in the finals of the ACC Championships.
Duke, however, downed the Demon Deacons 4-1 to win its 14th straight ACC title at the Lake Cane Tennis Center. It marked the seventh straight time Wake and Duke have met in the championship match.
The Blue Devils won the doubles point with victories by Amanda Johnson and Hillary Adams at No. 2 and Kathy Sell and Katie Granson at No. 3. In singles play, Megan Miller defeated Maren Haus at No.3, Kathy Sell downed Jackie Houston at No. 4 and Katie Granson defeated Elizabeth Proctor at No. 5.
The lone win from Wake Forest was by Janet Bergman who defeated Amanda Johnson 6-0, 6-1 at No. 2 singles for her 100th career victory.
Deacs in the Rankings...
After checking in the preseason rankings at No. 14, Wake Forest vaulted into the top 10 in mid-February and have remained there over the course of the season. The Deacs reached as high as No. 2 nationally (tying their highest ranking in school history) and are currently listed at No. 7.
Several individual Deacons are among the nation's top players as well. Junior Bea Bielik was ranked No. 1 in singles for most of the season before a sprained ankle forced her to retire against Duke's Kelly McCain on April 11. Bielik has not played since the injury and has dropped to No. 2 in the most recent rankings, released April 17. Bielik defeated the current No. 1 player, Florida's Jessica Lehnhoff, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on March 23.
Bielik and Janet Bergman were also ranked No. 1 in doubles for most of the season before falling, 9-7, to a duo from Duke on April 11. It was their first loss of the spring and just the third of the season, but it was enough to drop them to fourth in the latest rankings.
Doubles Delight...
Perhaps the biggest difference between the 2001 and 2002 seasons is the Deacons' improvement in doubles. After winning just over 49 percent of its doubles matches last spring, the squad has won 71 percent (49 of 69) doubles matches in dual meets this year. The Deacs also improved from a .522 winning percentage in ACC doubles matches last season to a .792 percentage (19-5 record) this spring.
Wake has won the doubles point in 17 of 23 matches (74 percent) and owns a 16-1 overall record when taking that point.
Wake's most consistent doubles lineup this spring is Janet Bergman and Bea Bielik at No. 1, Karin Coetzee and Aimee Smith at No. 2 and Katie Martzolf and Danielle Schwartz at No. 3. Bergman and Bielik have compiled a 31-3 record so far this season and have their sights set on the NCAA Championship after advancing to the quarterfinals the past two seasons. Coetzee and Smith did not team up until mid-February, but have gone 10-4 with a 5-1 ACC mark.
Martzolf and Schwartz, both freshmen, have been impressive this spring, tallying a 7-1 mark in ACC play (7-0 at No. 3) and a 15-7 record overall.
Home Sweet Home...Indoors or Out
Wake Forest continues to enjoy a homecourt advantage, as its record over the past few years indicates. Over the last three seasons, the Deacs have posted a 28-2 mark in matches played at either Leighton Stadium or the WFU Indoor Center. Wake went 11-1 at home this season with its only loss coming to No. 3 Florida on March 23 at Leighton.
Wake's 12 home matches were split evenly this year between Leighton's outdoor courts and the Indoor Center.
Series Records Versus the ACC...
Wake remains undefeated all-time against NC State, owning a 35-0 record in the series ... with a win over Clemson in 2002, the Deacs now have a 16-15 edge in that series ... Wake also increased its lopsided series leads against FSU (16-4), Georgia Tech (20-2) and Maryland (23-3) this year ... lopsided in the other direction is its series with Duke, as the Blue Devils own a 42-2 advantage.
Netting the Honors...
Wake Forest picked up three ACC Player of the Week honors during the course of the season. Bea Bielik earned the honor twice. The first came on Feb. 25, after she went 2-0 in both singles and doubles with wins over Virginia Tech and William & Mary. The second honor came on March 25 after she defeated Florida's No. 2 singles player and doubles team, as well as a ranked singles player from FSU.
Bielik also received the ITA's National Player of the Month honor for February, after posting a 7-0 singles record and 8-0 doubles record during the month.
Maren Haus was also named ACC Player of the Week on March 4 after going 3-0 in both singles at the UNLV Invitational, including one win over a ranked opponent.
Bergman the Record-Breaker...
Wake Forest senior Janet Bergman has rewritten the Wake record books during her Deacon career. This season she became WFU's all-time leader in both singles and doubles victories, with 126 singles wins and 114 doubles (and counting!) With the postseason still to go, Bergman has already passed the previous singles recordholder, Terry Ann Zawacki, by 10 wins and is 20 victories ahead of Monica Kowalewski, the previous doubles leader.
Bergman also ranks third in career singles winning percentage (.741) while she and Bea Bielik rank third all-time in career doubles wins for a team (73).
A Standout in the Classroom and the Court...
Wake senior Maren Haus has not only been a success on the tennis court, she earned accolades for her academic performance as well. Haus, a Studio Art major, has been named to the WFU Dean's List every semester of her collegiate career. This spring she was honored with the ACC's Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship, and most recently she was named Wake's nominee for the ACC Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Athletics.
Other Statistical Tidbits...
Wake Forest has reached the 20-win plateau for the sixth time in school history, and could break the record for wins in a season (24) set in 2000 ... counting matches from the fall and spring, the Deacons are 32-31 (.508) versus ranked opponents in singles and 13-8 (.591) against ranked doubles teams ... the doubles team of Janet Bergman and Bea Bielik needs just two more victories to set a single-season record for doubles wins (33) ... the Deacon duo also owns 73 career victories, which ranks third on Wake's all-time list ... only four players in school history rank among the top 10 on both the singles and doubles career list, and two are currently on the team - Janet Bergman and Maren Haus ... Bergman is first in both categories, while Haus is seventh in singles and ninth in doubles ... Bea Bielik needs just four more singles victories to rank on both lists as well.
What's Next?
Following the ACC Championships, Wake Forest will look to receive an invitation for its ninth straight NCAA appearance. Last season the Deacons traveled to Oklahoma State for first and second round regional action before advancing to the round of 16 in Stone Mountain, Ga. This year's regionals, with sites to be announced, are scheduled for May 10-12. The Championships take place in Stanford, Calif. May 16-25.
