The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebels' Run Ends At All-American Championships
10/23/1999 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 23, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Celeste Frey of the Ole Miss women's tennis team dropped her semifinal match to Adria Engel of Wake Forest at the prestigious Riviera All-American Championships Saturday, ending another successful run for the Lady Rebels in grand slam tournaments. Frey and Eberle also reached the semifinals in doubles before losing.
Frey, ranked No. 16 in the nation, lost in two sets, 6-4, 6-4. On her way to the semifinals Frey defeated three players ranked in the top 30, including Erica Perkins of Washington State in the first round, Martina Nedelkova of VCU in the second round and Aarthi Venkatesan of Georgia in the quarterfinals.
This was Frey's second grand slam final four appearance this season as she also reached the semifinals at the National Collegiate Clay Court Championships in September. Frey is now 6-2 on the year.
In doubles, Frey and Mariana Eberle, seeded No. 3 in the tournament, advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Carlijn Buis and Delphine Troch of William & Mary before losing to the No. 2 seeded team of Zuzana Lesenarova and Katarina Valkyova (San Diego) in three sets, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. This was their third final four appearance in a grand slam event, as they reached the semifinals at last year's clay courts and again at this year's clay courts.
Ole Miss was the only school to have three players reach at least the round of 16 with Ivona Mihailova and freshman sensation Mira Radu. Radu won three rounds in the qualifying tournament to reach the main draw, where she defeated Amanda Basica (UCLA), who is ranked in the top 30.
The All-American Championships is the second leg of the collegiate grand slam and is considered the toughest tournament of the year. The tournament featured a 32-player singles draw with many of the nation's top players and a 16-team doubles field.
RIVIERA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - Los Angeles
SINGLES
Semifinals - Adria Engel (WF) def. Celeste Frey (OM) 6-4, 6-4
DOUBLES
Quarterfinals - Frey/Mariana Eberle (OM) def. Carlijn Buis/Delphine Troch (WM) 6-3, 6-1, Semifinals - Zuzana Lesenarova/Katarina Valkyova (USD) def. Frey/Eberle (OM) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.