COLLEGE STATION, TX -- Several members of the Texas A&M women’s tennis team begin play at the prestigious Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships Tuesday on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles.
“The quality of opponents in this tournament is as good as anywhere, and it is very exciting to have the opportunity to go up against the best players in the country” A&M second-year head coach Howard Joffe said. “Our girls are excited to take to the courts and see where we fit in.”
The Aggie duo of Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar and Cristina Stancu is the No. 2 seed in the 32-team qualifying doubles bracket. Ranked 22nd nationally, the pair opens play against 43rd-ranked Ester Goldfeld and Annie Mulholland of Duke Tuesday at 9 a.m. (PT).
A&M’s Wen Sun and Nazari Urbina, No. 44 in the national doubles rankings, also take to the court at 9 a.m. (PT) on Tuesday as they face Sophia Bergner and Steffi Rath of Denver.
Action in the 64-player qualifying singles draw also gets underway Tuesday. Urbina, ranked 38th in the ITA preseason singles rankings, is the No. 16 seed in the bracket and will be playing in her first match of the fall season as she meets 49th-ranked Alexandra Cercone of Florida at 10:45 a.m. (PT). The winner will play again at 2:30 p.m. (PT) against the winner between Hanna Yu of Yale and 75th-ranked Anna Depenau of San Diego.
Sun opens singles play against 42nd-ranked and No. 9 seed Annie Goransson of California at 12:30 p.m. (PT). The winner advances to the second round to be played at 4:15 p.m. (PT) against the winner of 79th-ranked Kaitlin Ray of UCLA and No. 63 Jaklin Alawi of South Carolina.
The qualifying round is comprised of a singles draw of 64 and a doubles draw of 32. A singles player or doubles tandem must win three consecutive matches to stay alive and move into the main draw. Eight spots in the singles main draw are reserved for qualifiers, while the doubles main draw will feature four teams from qualifying.
Aggie All-American Sanchez-Quintanar, No. 4 in the preseason singles rankings, and 17th-ranked Stancu both received automatic entries into the singles main draw, to be played Thursday-Sunday at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Singles semifinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions will receive automatic entry into the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships Nov. 8-11 in Flushing, N.Y.
Riviera/ITA All-American Qualifying Doubles and Singles Schedule:
Tuesday, October 2 (all times are Pacific)
Doubles
9 a.m. (#22) Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar/Cristina Stancu, Texas A&M vs. (#43) Ester Goldfeld/Annie Mulholland, Duke
9 a.m. (#44) Wen Sun/Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M vs. Sophia Bergner/Steffi Rath, Denver
Singles
10:45 a.m. (#38) Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M vs. (#49) Alexandra Cercone, Florida
12:30 p.m. (#46) Wen Sun, Texas A&M vs. (#42) Annie Goransson, California
For more information on the 2012 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships, go to ITATennis.com
