Oct. 22, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois women's tennis team is set to begin action at the 2008 Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by Michigan State University, Oct. 23-28. At the six-day event, seven Illini will face some of the top competition from the Midwest Region.
"This is always an exciting tournament because it presents a good benchmark to see where we lie against our fellow regional competition," Illinois head coach Michelle Dasso said. "This tourney also allows us to showcase our new team and show the strides we have made since last season. All the girls are prepared and looking forward to supporting each other."
Filling the Illini roster for the weekend in the qualifying bracket are freshmen Chelcie Abajian and Amy Allin, along with sophomore Annie McCarthy. In the first round of the qualifying draw, Abajian will face off against IPFW's Amy Recht, while McCarthy takes on Cleveland State's Catrine Bjerrehus. Rounding out the Illini matchups in the qualifying draw, Allin will face Drake's Veronika Leszayova in the opening round. The top eight competitors from the qualifying round advance to the main draw set to begin on Sat. Oct. 25.
Illini scheduled for main draw competition include senior Shivani Davé, junior Megan Fudge and sophomores Leigh Finnegan and Marisa Lambropoulos.
In the doubles main draw, set to begin Friday, Oct. 24, three Illini tandems of Fudge/Finnegan, Lambropoulos/Abajian, and McCarthy/Allin, will represent the Orange and Blue.
Seventeen ITA Regional Championships for NCAA Division I men and women have been taking place throughout the week at campuses around the country. The singles finalists and doubles champion from each regional event will earn spots at the 2008 ITA National Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia, Nov. 6-9 in Charlottesville, Va.
Last fall at the Midwest Regional, three Illini, Fudge, Lambropoulos and senior Momei Qu advanced to the second round of the singles main draw before their runs at the championships were haulted. In doubles, the duos of Fudge/Finnegan and Lambropoulos/McCarthy also advanced to the second round.
Fans can visit msuspartans.com for results and score updates throughout the tournament, while a full recap of each day's action for the Illini will be available at fightingillini.com.
Wilson/ ITA Midwest Regional Championship Schedule of Events
MSU Indoor Tennis Facility
East Lansing, Mich.
Thursday, Oct. 23
Qualifying Singles
Friday, Oct. 24
Qualifying Singles, Main Draw Doubles
Saturday, Oct. 25
Main Draw Singles and Doubles
Sunday, Oct. 26
Main Draw Singles and Doubles
Monday, Oct. 27
Main Draw Singles and Doubles
Tuesday, Oct. 28
Main Draw Singles and Doubles
