Browne of Tufts Wins ITA Regional Singles Championship

Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Tufts University sophomore Julia Browne (Old Brookville, N.Y.) opened the 2008-09 women's tennis season in outstanding fashion by winning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) New England Region singles championship over the weekend at MIT. Browne was named the NESCAC Rookie of the Year last spring.

Browne, the ITA Northeast Region Rookie of the Year last season and an All-American, won six matches in three days to take the title. Entering the tournament as the fourth seed out of 64 players overall, Browne defeated Meghan Stubblebine of Wellesley 6-2, 6-0 to get going in the first round. She rolled through the second round and then had a 6-4, 7-5 win over Nikki Reich from Williams to advance to the quarterfinals. She got to the semi-final in a breeze, and then knocked off top seed Cary Gibson from Williams after trailing early (5-7, 6-3, 6-4) to advance to the final. She won the title over #3 seed Leslie Hansen from MIT, 7-5 and 6-0. As a result of winning the regional, Browne qualifies to play at the ITA Small College Nationals in Mobile, Alabama later this season.

Doubles teammates Browne and junior Meghan McCooey (Cumberland, RI) were the ITA New England runner-up. They won their first three matches easily, allowing just six total points and scoring an 8-0 win in the first round. Playing in the semi-finals against Brittany Berckes and Natasha Brown from Amherst on Sunday, Browne and McCooey won dramatically in a tie-breaker 9-8 (11). The went to a tie-breaker again in the doubles championship match against Gibson and Reich from Williams, but lost this time 9-8 (4).