The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis To Compete In ITA South Region
10/20/2004 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 20, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team heads to Tuscaloosa, Ala., this weekend for the ITA South Region Championships to be played at the UA Varsity Courts on the University of Alabama campus.
The four-day championship begins Friday and concludes Monday with the finals. The singles finalists and doubles champion from the prestigious event will be rewarded with invitations to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at the University of Michigan, to be held November 4-7. The Indoor Championships are the second of three national championship events held during the season.
Including eight Ole Miss players participating in the Wilson/ITA South Regional, players representing 21 schools from four states will gather in Tuscaloosa for the event. The Championships will also feature eight of the nation's top 50 collegiate singles players as well as several of the nation's premier doubles teams.
"We've had some good results this fall, and we are looking to continue our success," head coach Mark Beyers said. "This is one of the toughest tournaments of the fall, so we will get a good idea of where we are after this weekend."
Three of the top four seeds in the singles draw are all from the Southeastern Conference., including Lady Rebel senior All-American Chloe Carlotti, who is the No. 4 seed main draw. Carlotti, ranked No. 43 in the country, is off to a 4-1 start on the season. She won three matches in the qualifying tournament at the ITA Riviera All-American to reach the main draw, where she posted a huge win over the nation's No. 6 ranked player.
Sophomore transfer Ilona Somers is seeded No. 12 in the tournament. She owns a 2-1 record and is ranked No. 81 in the nation. Somers's only loss came to the country's 41st-ranked player.
Freshman Nika Koukharchouk looks to continue her solid play this fall at the regional championships. The Kaliningrad, Russia, native is off to a 4-2 start having reached the final at the Ole Miss fall Classic before falling to 23rd-ranked Shadisha Robinson of Georgia, who is the No. 3 seed this weekend. Koukhartchouk has defeated three nationally-ranked opponents this fall.
Also competing for the Lady Rebels in singles will be junior Virginia Tomatis, redshirt freshman Mimi Renaudin, freshmen Carlin Cochran and Sarah Sabin and sophomore Claire Conerly. All are a combined 14-7 so far.
Ole Miss has two doubles teams seeded in the main draw, 15th-ranked Carlotti and Tomatis are seeded No. 3. The pair, who earned All-SEC honors last year after going 8-3 at No. 1 doubles against the SEC, reached the finals of qualifying at the ITA/Riviera All-American. Somers and Renaudin, who are ranked No. 51 in the country, are seeded No. 6.
The ITA South Regional is one of 17 Division I ITA Regional Championships being held across the country during the final two weeks in October. More than 7,000 athletes and 600 schools participate annually in ITA Regional and National Intercollegiate Championships.
