Sept. 25, 2008
ATLANTA – Five members of the Georgia Tech women’s tennis team will travel to the west coast this weekend to compete in the 2008 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The first Intercollegiate Tennis Association national singles and doubles championships of the 2008-09 season – the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships – is one of three individual national collegiate tennis championships this season.
“This is always fun for the team to go out to California and play some of the best players in the country,” head coach Bryan Shelton said. “We have enjoyed some success at the tournament in the past and hope to continue that trend this season.”
The premier hard court event of the fall collegiate season, the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships feature the top players in NCAA Division I tennis. Tech junior Amanda McDowell, the 2008 NCAA Individual Champion, will be joined in the singles main draw by 22 of the nation’s top 23 player’s in the current ITA rankings.
“Amanda taking a loss at our tournament last week has made her hungrier to improve and get better,” Shelton said. “She is someone that bounces back so she will be tough to beat out there.”
The Oct. 2-5 main draw is preceded by two sets of qualifying tournaments. The 64-player, 32 doubles team pre-qualifying tournament is Sept. 27-28 at Pepperdine University, where eight players and four doubles teams will advance to the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 64-player qualifying tournament at Riviera (where eight players and four doubles teams will advance to the main draw).
Sophomore Noelle Hickey and freshman Viet Ha Ngo will begin in the pre-qualifying singles draw Saturday, while senior Christy Striplin and freshman Irina Falconi will start in the qualifying bracket Tuesday. McDowell, ranked third in the nation in singles, has received a bye into the main draw and will begin play next Thursday.
The duo of Striplin and Hickey will open the tournament in the pre-qualifying doubles draw as the No. 1 seed. McDowell and Falconi will team together in the qualifying draw.
“Christy had such a great competition at our tournament and I believe it has shown in her confidence so I believe she could make a run out there,” Shelton added. “We also look forward for our young players to get some valuable experience out there.”
The famous Riviera Tennis Club has played host to this event since 1988 (it also hosted an intercollegiate women’s championship from 1986-88).
For more information on the 2008 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, please click here.
– RamblinWreck.com –
