Sept. 28, 2005

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - - The University of Illinois women's tennis team will look to continue the success they had at the Spartan Cup last weekend when they journey to the Kentucky Invitational Sept. 30-Oct. 2. In addition, Sophomores Momei Qu and Macall Harkins will play in the ITA All-American Championships 64-player singles prequalifying tournament, which takes place at UCLA Oct. 1-2. Senior and Illini captain, Brianna Knue will pair with Harkins in the 32-team doubles prequalifying tournament.

The Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championship is the first of three national events played during the 2005-06 collegiate tennis season. The main draw will take place October 6-9 at the legendary Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

"All-Americans is a great tournament," said Coach Sujay Lama. "Whether you are playing in prequalifiers or the main event, the competition is intense. Last year, the singles champion and doubles champion came out of the prequalifiers. Just like last week, our goals are much more performance than result-oriented. Of course we want to have a lot of success, but what I'm looking for is improvement."

This is the first appearance at the ITA All-America for each of the three Illini netters and for Macall Harkins it is somewhat of a homecoming for the Los Angeles, Calif., native.

"This tournament is somewhat of a reward for them," said Lama. "They have really worked hard and showed a lot of leadership in the first couple of weeks of the season."

The Kentucky Invitational, hosted by the University of Kentucky at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex, is a 12-team tournament that is composed of four singles flights and two doubles flights. Junior Emily Wang will represent the Illini in flight A. Freshman Shivani Dave' will be in flight B, sophomore Alejandra Meza Cuadra in flight C and senior Pavlina Akritas will compete in flight D. Singles play is scheduled to start Friday, Sept. 30 at 9 a.m. Wang and Dave' will pair to take on the flight A doubles championship while Cuadra and Akritas will join together in flight B doubles. Doubles play will begin Friday afternoon. Assistant coach JoAnne Russell will travel with the four women to Lexington, Ky.

"The Kentucky Invitational is a really good tournament," Lama said. "We went there last year for our first time. The competition is excellent and we're looking forward to achieving the goals we have set."