Samantha Adams (left) and Kenna Kilgo begin play Thursday at the NCAA Doubles Championships.

May 22, 2012

ATHENS, Ga. – No. 18 Samantha Adams and Kenna Kilgo will open play at the 2012 NCAA Doubles Championships against No. 9 Courtney Dolehide and Pamela Montez of UCLA on Thursday.

“Everybody at this point is good,” said Lady Raider head coach Todd Petty. “UCLA is a very solid team. It is a tough first round. If we advance we will have a matchup with Notre Dame again in the second round.

“Kenna and Sam have had good practices leading up to being here and are excited about being here. They have proven throughout the year that they can beat anyone in the country.”

It is a historic day in Lady Raider Tennis, as the duo are just the fourth and fifth Lady Raiders to participate in the NCAA Individual Championships. The doubles tandem of Annemarie Walson and Paula Brigance were the first Lady Raiders to advance to the NCAA Championships, while Zana Zlebnik advanced in singles in 1998.

Walson and Brigance lost in the first round to Danielle Durak and Julie Kaczmarek from William and Mary in 1988. Zlebnik defeated Arizona State’s Karin Palme, 6-4, 6-1, before falling to Kylie Hunt of Kansas, 6-2, 6-3 in the Round of 32 in 1998.

Adams and Kilgo are 25-7 on the season and 8-1 against ranked opponents. The duo won the Big 12 Conference positional championship at No. 1 Doubles and are 9-1 in their last 10 matches.

Dolehide and Montez are 19-4 and 4-3 against ranked opponents and have played primarily No. 2 doubles for the Bruins.

If the Lady Raiders move on to the Round of 16, it could set up a rematch of earlier this season, when Kilgo and Adams downed then-No. 2 Kristy Frilling and Shannon Mathews of Notre Dame. The Tech tandem toppled Frilling and Matthews, 9-7, in Honolulu, Hawai’i. But before that could happen, No. 8 Frilling and Matthews must defeat Stanford’s No. 24 duo of Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay.

ALL-AMERICA ON THE LINE
The NCAA Individual Championships have more than just trophies on the line. Players will also be competing for ITA All-American status. Here are the three ways to earn the highest national honors in singles or doubles:
• Be seeded in either NCAA singles and/or doubles (top 16 in singles; top 8 in doubles)
• Finish top 20 in the ITA singles rankings; top 10 in the ITA doubles rankings
• Advance two rounds in NCAA singles and/or doubles (reach singles round of 16; doubles quarterfinals)