University of Minnesota Athletics
Players Mentioned
Gophers Wrap-Up Day One of ITA Central Regional
10/12/2018 10:49:00 PM | Tennis
The first day of tournament play was significantly impacted by inclement weather currently impacting parts of the Midwest which forced morning and mid-afternoon competition to be pushed indoors on a first come first serve basis. Annemarie Emme and River Hart kicked off action for the Maroon and Gold with wins in the singles qualifiers. Emme would defeat Kamdem of Southern Illinois in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 and Hart secured a hard fought victory against Velkovska of Southeast Missouri State by a score of 7-6 (5), 5-7, 11-9.
Emme dropped her second round singles match 6-3, 3-6, 2-10 to Iowa State's Bonadonna whom she had previously faced at this year's Gopher Invitational. Following Hart claiming her first singles qualifying match in extraordinary fashion, she made quick work of Bradley's Wijesinghe in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to advance into the singles main draws which begin tomorrow. Hart would be the only member of the Maroon and Gold to advance out of the qualifiers in singles play.
In the late afternoon the Gophers' had an action packed day where four-of-five doubles pairings secured victories to advance to the main draw. Friday's doubles draws were highlighted by the duo of Juliet Zhang and Bita Mancera winning 8-0 against Northern Iowa competition. Junior Cammy Frei also saw her first action of the year as she paired up with Camila Vargas and downed Iowa State's Bonadonna/Cancini, 8-5.
"Regionals always gives us the opportunity to compete against the best teams in our region" head coach Catrina Thompson said. "The highlight of the day was River winning both of her singles matches to advance to the main draw. In doubles we had four out of five of our doubles teams advance in the main draw, so overall we had a great day of action."
The Gophers' will continue play tomorrow when they kick off at 9:00 a.m. with additional doubles action directly followed by the next round of singles.