Naklo Advances At NCAA Singles Championships

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Iowa State sophomore Thasaporn Naklo earned the first NCAA Singles Championship win in school history Monday with a 6-4, 6-2 win against No. 72 Elaine Chervinsky at Khan Outdoor Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Illinois.

"Taew played great today," head coach Boomer Saia said. "She played within herself and stuck to her game style. It's not easy playing someone for a second time and she handled it very well. I'm very proud of her."

Naklo, the nation's No. 56 player, advances to face NC State's Abigail Rencheli on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Rencheli was a 6-1, 6-2 winner over Alabama's Loudmilla Bencheikh. Rencheli is the No. 48 singles player in the nation.

Naklo, who beat the Virginia freshman Chervinsky last fall at the ITA Fall National Championships, got off to a slow start, dropping the first two games before settling in. She eventually tied it up at 3-3 and the set was again knotted up at 4-4 before Naklo went up 5-4 and eventually broke Chervinsky's serve for the 6-4 win.

The second set was all Naklo.

She jumped out to a 4-1 win and never looked back en route to becoming the 11^th player in school history to win 23 singles matches in a season. Tonight's win was her eighth ranked victory of the season.