The University of Mississippi Athletics
Lady Rebel Netters To Compete In Riviera All-American
9/30/2004 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 30, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - Several members of the Ole Miss women's tennis team will begin competing at the 2004 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships this weekend at UCLA. The tournament takes place at UCLA and the Riviera Tennis Club Oct. 2-10.
The Riviera/ITA All-American Championships offer the first national singles and doubles titles of the season, and are followed by the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November. The third event is the season-ending NCAA Championships in May.
The All-American Championships include 128-singles player and 64-doubles team prequalifying tournaments played October 2-4 at UCLA. These feed into 64-player and 32-doubles team qualifying tournaments October 5-6 at Riviera. The 32-player, 16-doubles team main draw takes place Oct. 7-10. Over 60 schools from across the country will be sending players to compete.
The Lady Rebels will have three players competing in the prequalifying tournament for a spot in the qualifying. Junior Virginia Tomatis and freshmen Mimi Renaudin and Nika Koukhartchouk must win four matches to advance to the qualifying, which begins Tuesday.
"We had a good start to the year last weekend at our tournament," head coach Mark Beyers said. "The All-American is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the nation with the top players competing. We look forward to a good showing and to see where we stack up with some of the other teams around the country."
Tomatis is competing in her first collegiate tournament this fall. She teamed up with senior Chloe Carlotti to win a round in the main draw of the USTA Gold Strike Challenger in Tunica, Miss., two weeks ago. Tomatis will face TCU's Carla Mancinas in the first round at 10 a.m.
Renaudin, who qualified for the main draw singles at the Gold Strike Challenger, and then fared well in the Ole Miss Fall Classic last weekend, will meet Katie Blaszak of Duke at Noon.
Koukhartchouk had a successful debut in her first collegiate tournament last weekend, reaching the finals of the Ole Miss Fall Classic Blue Draw. Along the way, Koukhartchouk defeated three nationally-ranked players before falling to Georgia's top player, who is ranked No. 23. Koukhartchouk will play Jenny Trettin of Denver in the first round at 10 a.m.
In the prequalifying doubles, Renaudin and Koukhartchouk will team up to face Chelsea Nusslock and Caitlin Burke of Wisconsin in the first round Saturday. They will have to win four matches to advance to the qualifying tournament.
Carlotti, and sophomore newcomer Ilona Somers are in the qualifying tournament in singles, which begins Tuesday at the Riviera Club Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades. Carlotti, ranked No. 43 in the nation, is competing in her first collegiate tournament of the season. She qualified for the main draw at the Gold Strike Challenger in singles as well as doubles with Tomatis. Carlotti will also compete in doubles with Tomatis. The All-SEC duo is ranked No. 15 in the nation.
Somers, who was one of the top rookies in the nation last year at the University of Tulsa, is ranked No. 81 in the nation.
To follow the Lady Rebels at the Riviera All-American, go to www.itatennis.com.
