Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport

TINESTA ROWE etched out her own piece of local sporting history last week when she became the first Jamaican to reach a final at the NCAA Division One tennis championships.

Rowe, the lanky 22-year-old from Runaway Bay, and her Canadian partner, Melanie Gloria, were the number two ranked combination in the women's doubles and they lived up to that billing by reaching the final, where they fell to the No. 1-seeded team from UCLA.

Top division

Representing their college, Fresno State, in US college sport's top division, Rowe and Gloria dropped the first set 6-2 against Riza Zalameda and Tracy Lyn but found their rhythm in the second to win 6-4. That sent the match into a decisive third set, which the UCLA duo won 6-3.

On their way to the final at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma, Rowe and Gloria, who have been playing together for three years now, defeated nationally-ranked teams from the University of North Carolina (6-3, 5-7, 6-4), the University of Arkansas (6-3, 7-6), Duke (6-2, 6-4) and, in the semi-finals, Notre Dame (6-1, 7-5).

Team competition

In the team competition, No. 16-ranked Fresno State lost in the round of 16 to No. 1 seeds Northwestern, 4-1. On their way to that showdown, Fresno State defeated Lamar University 4-0 and Arizona State 4-1. In the clash with the team from Arizona, Rowe won her doubles and singles matches.

The women's team competition was won by UCLA who defeated state rivals California 4-0 in the final.