University of Minnesota Athletics
Women's Tennis Plays Well in California, Iowa
9/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Four Gophers are competing in the Cal Nike Invitational, which runs Friday through Sunday in Berkeley, Calif., at the Hellman Tennis Complex and Channing Tennis Courts. The event features some of the top players in the country and Minnesota is represented by senior Alessandra Ferrazzi, junior Magdalena Wiecha, sophomore Alexa Palen and freshman Natallia Pintusava. Ferazzi, Palen and Pintusava are competing in the Gold singles draw, while Wiecha is playing in the Blue singles draw. Both brackets feature 32 players.
Ferrazzi, who was an All-Big Ten selection and team MVP last season, is coming off a junior year where she led the Gophers with a 24-15 record. She faced Arizona State's Kelcy McKenna, who is the No. 3 seed in the event and ranked No. 54 in the ITA Campbell/ITA Preseason Rankings. McKenna prevailed 6-0, 6-4. Ferrazzi won her first match in the consolation bracket besting Kacie Wagner of Santa Clara.
Palen, who went 17-14 in singles last year, began her sophomore year with a three-set loss to Nevada's Emma Verbenne. She then fell to second seed and No. 32 Micaela Hein of Arizona State in the first round of consolation play.
Ferrazzi and Palen, who were 12-9 overall last year when paired together and 11-6 at No. 1 doubles, faced the No. 1 seed and No. 1-ranked duo of Jana Juricova and Mari Andersson of California in the Gold doubles draw. California prevailed 8-2.
Pintusava made her college debut in grand fashion against Jennifer Widjaja of Pacific. Pintusava handed Widjaja, who was the No. 4 seed and ranked No. 60 in the preseason, a 6-3, 7-6 (6) loss. The freshman then dropped USC's Cristala Andrews in straight sets and will face Annie Goransson in the quarterfinals of the main draw.
Wiecha's first match of the fall season was a 6-3, 7-5 win against sixth-seeded Maria Meliuk of Sacramento State. She then dropped Julie Luzar of Long Beach State 6-3, 7-6 (4) to advance to the quarterfinals against Fresno State's Abby Mary Hayley.
Wiecha and Pintusava, competing in the Blue doubles draw, lost 8-4 to the fourth-seeded pairing of Meliuk and Clarisse Baca of Sacramento State.
The four players competing in the UNI Fall Invitational in Waterloo, Iowa, are seniors Mariana Spilca and Peta Forsyth and freshmen Elianna Kantar and Emilie Renault. All four recently competed in singles and doubles at the Sept. 10-12 Drake Fall Invitational and are playing both singles and doubles again this weekend.
Spilca faced Bradley's Sarah Rodefeld in the Gold flight and turned in a gritty 6-3, 4-6, 603 victory in the first round. She will play Northern Iowa's Chelsea Moore, who advanced by default, in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Forsyth and Renault are both competing in the Silver flight and would only play one another if both advanced to the final. Forsyth beat Jessica Aguilera of Drake 6-3, 7-5 in the first round, while Renault prevailed 6-0, 6-1 against Natalia Medina of South Dakota State. Forsyth faces Mahdi Besovic of Missouri in the quarterfinals, while Renault will oppose Big Ten foe and three-set winner Christina Harazin of Iowa.
Kantar, playing in the Bronze draw, faced North Dakota's Steph Beihn and won 6-0, 6-4 before dropping a straight set decision to Iowa State's Emma Waites. Her next match will come against South Dakota's Maddy Warder in the Bronze consolation draw.
Spilca and Renault fell 8-5 to Jenna Langhorst and Nikki Reber of Iowa State in the first round of the Platinum doubles draw. The duo then dropped a close match, 8-6, to Northern Illinois' Emily Rogers and Manon Denis in the first round of the Platinum consolation draw.
Forsyth and Kantar received a first-round bye in the Gold doubles flight and then lost 8-5 to the Drake duo of Aguilera and Manca Krizman in the second round. They will play Warder and Kelsi Foster in the Gold consolation flight on Saturday.
Forsyth led the way with a 2-2 record in singles play at the Drake event. Kantar and Renault were both 2-1, while Spilca was 0-3. In doubles, Spilca and Renault were 2-1 and Forsyth and Kantar were 1-2.
Players Mentioned
