Indiana University Athletics
Two Hoosiers Advance to Final 16 of ITAs
8/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Aug. 13, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - All eight of the top men's seeds and seven of the eight women's seeds advanced through the opening two rounds of singles Saturday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Summer Championships at the Indiana University Varsity Tennis Center.
The ITA National Summer Championships, presented by the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 23 regional sites throughout the country last month.
Purdue's Paul Rose, the No. 1 seed in the men's draw, received a first round bye then topped Middlebury's Nate Edmunds 7-5, 7-5. Rose, a senior from Glencoe, Ill., is on his way back from knee surgery earlier this summer. He finished No. 96 in the final ITA national singles rankings last season despite missing the final six weeks due to a knee injury. Also advancing were No. 2 seed and 2004 finalist Chris Klingemann of Ohio State, No. 3 Robert Cameron of Tennessee and No. 4 Ashwin Kumar of Harvard. Joining them in Sunday's third round are also Nos. 5-8 seeds: Will Gray of Tulsa, Eric Hechtman of Miami (Fla.), Brett McKeon of Cornell and Ryan Preston of Vanderbilt.
Top-seeded Preethi Mukundan of Harvard edged Georgia Tech's Whitney McCray 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-5) in the second round after receiving a first round bye. Mukundan, a junior from Folsom, Calif., finished 2004-05 at No. 63 in the ITA national rankings and is one of four players competing this week who finished in the top 80. Second-seeded Anna Lubinsky of Texas A&M, No. 3 Alexis Prousis of Northwestern and No. 4 Caitlin Burke of Wisconsin also advanced today. Prousis captured last year's singles title and is looking to become the first woman to repeat as champion since Georgia's Tina Samara won the first two titles in 1994-95. (note: a 10-point match tie-breaker is being played in place of a third set.)
Host Indiana's Sarah Batty and Dora Vastag, Nos. 5-8 seeds, had mixed results today. Both received first round byes - Vastag, a quarterfinalist last year, then beat Kansas' Lauren Hommell 6-4, 6-2; Batty lost to Pennsylvania's Alexis Plukas 6-4, 6-4. The two other Nos. 5-8 seeds - Alison Silverio of Georgia Tech and Courtney Vernon of South Florida - both advanced.
Hoosier Laura McGaffigan, whose sister Jennifer won the 2001 and 2003 summer titles while at Illinois, also advanced to tomorrow's third round. She topped Cal Poly's Maria Malec 6-2, 6-1 in the second round. IU's Stephanie Heller lost in opening round play to Illinois' Momei Qu 6-3, 6-1. There are no IU players in the men's draw.
Sunday's schedule will include the third round of singles followed by opening round doubles play. Admission is free.
The ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit and National Summer Championships are the brainchild of host Indiana head women's tennis coach Lin Loring and provide college tennis players the opportunity to compete in organized events virtually year round. The circuit is made up of six regional circuits (East, Southeast, Midwest, Central, Southwest and West) and each region consists of four consecutive tournaments played during the month of July, leading up to the national event.
The singles and doubles champions from this week's championships earn wild cards into the first national tournaments of the 2005-06 collegiate tennis season - the Polo Ralph Lauren Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., October 6-9 (the finalists earn wild cards into the qualifying tournaments).
This is the fifth straight year IU is serving as tournament host.
Since this event is played during the summer and is an open event, all competing players (which include juniors) are competing unattached; not officially representing their institutions.
Day 1 Women's Singles
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