Cavaliers Begin Play At ITA Atlantic Regional Friday
ITA Atlantic Regional – Tournament Central
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –Members of the Virginia women’s tennis team begin play in the ITA Atlantic Regional on Friday (Oct. 12) hosted by Liberty University. The event begins with doubles on Friday before individuals begin singles play on Saturday.
Senior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine), juniors Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas), Camille Favero (Sacramento, Calif.) and Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), sophomores Lizzie Baker (Washington, D.C.) and Maya Das (Potomac, Md.), and freshmen Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) and Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.) will all be competing over the weekend.
The Cavaliers have four pairings set to compete in doubles, including the second and third seeded duos. The pairing of Kelley and Munera is seeded second overall, while the pairing of Gullickson and O’Dell is seeded third. Both teams receive a first-round bye and begin competition on Saturday. Competing in the opening round on Friday will be the duo of Baker and Das at 2 p.m., as well as the duo of Bleser and Favero at the same time.
In singles play, the Cavaliers have three seeded players in Kelley (No. 2 seed), Gullickson (No. 12 seed) and O’Dell (No. 16 seed). Also competing are Bleser and Favero. Singles competition begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The tournament runs through the weekend with the finals in both doubles and singles set to be played on Tuesday (Oct. 16).
The winners will advance to compete at the Oracle/ITA National Fall Championships from Nov. 7-11 in Surprise, Ariz. Players can also play their way into an at-large berth with their performances in regional play.
The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships features 128 of the nation’s top collegiate singles players (64 men and 64 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams). In its second year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, it is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions playing in the same tournament.