Oct. 20, 2004

Six players will represent the Illinois women's tennis team at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Tournament this weekend at the University of Minnesota. Qualifying begins tomorrow at the Baseline Tennis Center in Minneapolis and runs through Friday. Main draw competition runs from Saturday through Tuesday.

Three Illini competitors received berths in the singles main draw: senior Cynthya Goulet, who is ranked No. 110 in the nation; junior Brianna Knue; and sophomore Emily Wang, who has the team's best singles record this fall, 6-2.

Three other members of the Orange and Blue are slated to play in the qualifying rounds: freshmen Macall Harkins and Momei Qu, as well as junior Pavlina Akritas. Qu is the first alternate for the main draw and could earn a berth if another player has to withdraw for any reason.

Coach Sujay Lama has three doubles teams set to compete this weekend, all of them in the main draw: 44th-ranked Goulet and Wang; Knue and Harkins; and Akritas and Qu.

The final third of the team will remain on campus due to injuries. Senior Leila Cehajic is rehabbing from a shoulder problem, while freshman Anastasia Sokolova has a back ailment and freshman Elizabeth Dolan has a sore wrist.

There is plenty at stake in this weekend's tournament. The singles finalists and the doubles champion from this event will earn spots in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, Nov. 4-7, at the University of Michigan. The results of this competition will also go a long way toward determining the regional and national rankings that are released prior to the spring team dual-match season.

"We have geared our fall season around the regionals," said Lama. "Our team has made a lot of progress, and this is an opportunity to see where we are, compared to our regional opponents. The competition is going to be tremendous, and we are looking forward to it."

Here is the competion schedule... Thursday, Oct. 21 - 1st & 2nd round of qualifying singles Friday, Oct. 22 - Final round of qualifying singles; 1st & 2nd rounds of doubles Saturday, Oct. 23 - 1st & 2nd rounds of main draw singles; round of 16 doubles Sunday, Oct. 24 - Doubles quarterfinals & semifinals; round of 16 singles Monday, Oct. 25 - Doubles final; singles quarterfinals & semifinals Tuesday, Oct. 26 - Singles final

Illinois results may be tracked on the internet at www.fightingillini.com, in addition to host Minnesota's site, http://www.gophersports.com/Sports/sport.asp?sport_id=wtennis. Further information is available on the ITA site: www.itatennis.com.