May 21, 2002

Stanford, Calif. ----- The University of North Carolina's Kate Pinchbeck won two three-set matches to advance to the round of 16 at the NCAA Women's Tennis Individual Tounament. Pinchbeck, ranked 14th in the country, defeated Baylor's Katja Kovac, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Arizona's Maja Mlakar, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Pinchbeck, who lost for just the second time last week during the team portion of the Tournament, was losing 3-6, 1-2 to Kovac on Monday before rains halted play. Pinchbeck bounced back to win the final two sets under better weather conditions.

Pinchbeck lost the first set in her second round match by the same 6-3 score, but rose to the challenge with back-to-back 7-5 wins in sets two and three. She will face Stanford's Lauren Kalvaria on Wednesday at Noon for the right to advance to the quarterfinals. Kalvaria is the overall No. 8 seed in the tournament.

Carolina's Julie Rotondi was victorious in her first round match against Washington's Darija Klaic by a 6-3, 7-5 score. However, Rotondi could not sustain the momentum in the second round, falling to Stanford's Erin Burdette, 7-5, 6-2.

Marlene Mejia, the only other Tar Heel competing in the individual championships, lost to Alice Pirsu of Pennsylvania, 6-3, 6-2.