McCooey is National College Champion Again
October 21, 2009 09:41 AM
MOBILE, Ala. – Former USTA New England Junior star Meghan McCooey, a native of Cumberland, R.I and a senior captain at Tufts University, teamed with junior captain Julia Browne to win their second straight Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Small College National Championship in doubles on Friday afternoon at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.
Meghan McCooey (right) won her second National Championship.
The Tufts pair were 7-5, 6-3 winners over The College of New Jersey's (TCNJ) Jackie Shtemberg and Felice Trinh in the finals. Browne and McCooey were the #2 seed in the Division III doubles draw. The TCNJ duo had eliminated top seed Kendra Higgins and Chrissy Hu from the University of Chicago in the first round.
Browne and McCooey defeated Abby Olbrich and Sallie Katter from Linfield College 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round on Thursday afternoon. Later in the day, in the semi-finals, they won 6-4, 6-3 again versus Paige Sumida and Whitney Waters from the University of Redlands. That put them in the finals on Friday at 5:00.
The talented Tufts twosome won the Division III doubles title at the 2008 ITA National Small College Championships, defeating Marta Drane and Kristin Cobb from Denison by 6-2, 6-2 scores. That win marked the first national title for Tufts Tennis in the history of the program. Today's victory is the second.
As 2009 Division III doubles champions, Browne and McCooey played in the "Super Bowl" of the ITA Small College Championships on Saturday afternoon. That bracket includes each champion from the Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College brackets at the event. The Tufts team lost to Jillian O'Neill and Olivia Howlett from Hillsborough Junior College 6-3, 6-2 in the "Super Bowl" semi-finals.