Pierson Advances to Third Round of Pre-Qualifying Singles at ITA All-American
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Sept. 29, 2013
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Virginia freshman Rachel Pierson (Princeton, N.J.) won a pair of pre-qualifying singles matches Saturday (Sept. 28) at the 2013 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Pierson won by walkover against Colorado’s Julyette Steur in the first round and defeated Auburn’s Michaela Kucherova 6-3, 6-1 in the second round. Pierson battles Pepperdine’s Matea Cutura in the third round Sunday with the winner advancing to Monday’s qualifying round.
Also competing in pre-qualifying singles for Virginia were seniors Li Xi (Kunming, China) and Caryssa Peretz (Cherry Hill, N.J.), sophomore Maci Epstein (Winter Park, Fla.) and freshman Marie Faure (Toulouse, France). Peretz and Faure also competed in the pre-qualifying doubles draw.
Xi and Faure each went 1-1. Xi posted a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Dartmouth’s Katherine Yau before losing in the second round to UCLA’s Chanelle Nguyen 6-1, 6-1. Faure beat Texas’ Elizabeth Begley 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in the first round, but dropped a tough three-set match 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 to DePaul’s Jasmin Kling in the second round.
Peretz fell 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 to Florida’s Belinda Woolcock and USC’s Kaitlyn Christian defeated Epstein 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Peretz and Faure were eliminated in first round of pre-qualifying doubles after an 8-5 loss to Harvard’s Amanda Lin and June Lee.
Pre-qualifying features a singles draw of 64 and a doubles draw of 32. Each player or doubles pair must win three rounds in order to advance to the qualifying draw. A total of eight singles players and four doubles duos move on to qualifying from pre-qualifying play.
Follow the ITA on Twitter, @ITAtennis, for updates and news from Pacific Palisades or search for the hashtag #RivieraITA to find other tweets from those tweeting the events from the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships. Fans can also visit www.ITATennis.com for more information.