Oct. 15, 2003
The 2003 Patriot League Women's Flighted Tennis Championship will take place October 18-19 at the Ulrich Tennis Courts at Lehigh University's Goodman Campus. The field is expected to be very competitive with four singles champions and four doubles winners returning.
Defending PL team champion Army has junior Marissa Limsiaco (The Woodlands, Texas) and sophomore Amanda Paluch (Chapel Hill, N.C.) back in the fold. Limsiaco teamed up with Cristina Lucin, who has graduated, to win the second doubles crown, while Paluch claimed the fourth singles title with a straight-set victory.
A pair of Black Knights will look to improve on runner-up finishes at the 2002 Flighted Championship. 2003 PL Co-Rookie of the Year Megan Noble (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior Lyndsey Nott (West Richland, Wash.) fell just short in title runs a year ago. Noble, who also earned a second-team All-League berth, dropped a three-set heartbreaker to American's Olga Mikhailova in the third singles final, while Nott lost in the sixth singles championship match.
American is led by 2003 Patriot League Player of the Year Katarina Kollarova (Vincine, Slovakia) and fellow senior Kristina Georgieva (Sofia, Bulgaria). Kollarova earned the gold medal in first singles with a three-set victory over Lehigh's Kristin Nowicki (Greensburg, Pa.). Kollarova and Georgieva, who were first-team all-stars a year ago, teamed up to win the first doubles title in 2002.
Bucknell welcomes the return of second singles champion Veronica Brown (Derwood, Md.). The sophomore, who was PL Co-Rookie of the Year and a second-team all-star in 2003, upset second-seeded Annie Collier of Army in the final match. Sophomore Rheanna Gaskin (Gaithersburg, Md.) will look to improve on the second-place finish in fifth singles from a year ago.
Kristin Mulstay (Douglaston, N.Y.) is Lehigh's lone returning champion from the 2002 Flighted Championship. The junior earned the sixth singles title with a straight-set victory over Army's Nott. Nowicki, who was a first-team All-League pick last year, and junior Maria del Carmen Anorga (Lima, Peru) were the runners-up in the first doubles draw.
Colgate will rely on senior Jessica Fede (North Providence, R.I.), junior Marissa Alikpala (Lincoln, R.I.) and sophomore Sheila Rao (Waverly, Pa.) to bring titles back to Hamilton. Rao teamed up with Lauren Erikson, who has graduated, to win the third doubles crown, while Fede was the sixth singles champ in 2001. Alikpala, who earned All-League recognition for the second-straight season, was a quarterfinalist in the second singles bracket a year ago.
Senior Susan King (Spring Grove, Pa.) was Lafayette's top performer at last year's flighted tournament. She gained a spot in the quarterfinals before falling to the eventual champion. This fall, sophomore Chez Saricas (Stamford, Conn.) is 3-1 in first singles action, while classmate Lisa Fung-Kee-Fung (West Moorings, Trinidad) is unbeaten (4-0) in second solo play.