Huskers Head to ITA Regional to Finish Fall Season

Iowa City, Iowa - The Husker Women’s Tennis team will travel to Iowa City, Iowa to compete at the 2018 ITA Central Regional Championships from Oct. 12-16. The tournament will begin this morning with singles qualifying rounds, followed by doubles qualifying in the afternoon.

 

The University of Iowa will host this year's contest at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center located just west of campus in Iowa City, Iowa. Twenty-six visiting schools and more than 160 student-athletes from the Central Region are expected to compete, making it one of the largest ITA Regional tournaments in the history of the event.

 

The first round of matches will consist of qualifying competition to enter the 128-player singles bracket as well as the first two doubles rounds of 128 and 64. On Saturday, the tournament will continue with the doubles 32-team bracket as well as singles rounds of 128 and 64. Sunday's competition will cut both singles and doubles down to 16 heading into the quarterfinals.

 

Marina Cozac, Emma Worley and Elizabeth Gould will all begin singles play at 12:30 p.m. today with qualifying matches. Jessica Aragon, Claire Reifeis, Hayley Haakenstad and Vasanti Shinde will begin play in the 128-player singles bracket later this weekend. Reifeis and Shinde both received top 32 seeds.

 

On Monday, doubles quarterfinal and semifinal matchups will take place followed by singles quarterfinals. Tuesday will wrap up a long weekend of tennis with doubles championships, singles semifinals and championship rounds.

Heading into Iowa City, Head Coach Scott Jacobson described what he wants to see from the team, mentally.

 

“If you’re up or you’re down in a match you should always have the body language as if you’re winning,” Jacobson explained. “Just to make sure you always have good healthy energy and in the long run that will really help us as a team if everybody individually can have strong minds and positive body language.”

 

Doubles pairings will be the same as they were for the Gopher Invite. Junior Vasanti Shinde and freshman Jessica Aragon, who went 3-3 two weeks ago, comprise one of the pairs. The junior duo of Claire Reifeis and Hayley Haakenstad will be back in action on the doubles court after an impressive 4-2 record in Minneapolis. The final pairing for the Huskers is senior Elizabeth Gould and junior Marina Cozac, who went 3-3 at Nebraska’s fall opener.

 

Jacobson commented on what he is looking for the team to build on this weekend, following the Minnesota Invite.

 

“We have to make sure we play with tremendous composure, tremendous passion, and good temperament, which are three of the things we really focused on at the Minnesota tournament,” Jacobson said. “This is going to be a lot better tournament overall, but I think we’ve worked hard and are ready for a positive experience.”

 

Singles Qualifying Matches for NU on Friday:

12:30 p.m.: Elizabeth Gould, Marina Cozac and Emma Worley

 

Doubles Qualifying Matches for NU on Friday:

4:15 p.m.: Shinde/Aragon (NEB) vs. Cappuro/Romero (OKLA); Haakenstad/Reifeis (NEB) vs. Hsu/Saidhujaeva (WSU); Gould/Cozac (NEB) vs. Barbery/Melatin (BRAD)

 

How to Follow Along

-For match results and live streams from Iowa City, visit www.hawkeyesports.com/ITACentral.

-Follow us on Twitter @HuskersWTennis and Facebook @huskerswomenstennis for frequent updates throughout the tournament.

 

Full Schedule

 

Friday, Oct. 12          

9 a.m. Doubles - Round of 128

10 a.m. Singles - Qualifying Round 1

1:45 p.m. Singles - Qualifying Round 2

4:15 p.m. Doubles - Round of 64

Saturday, Oct. 13     

9 a.m. Doubles - Round of 32

10 a.m. Singles - Round of 128

11:15 a.m. Singles - Round of 64

1:45 p.m. Singles Consolation - Round of 64

Sunday, Oct. 14

9 a.m. Doubles - Round of 16

TBA: Singles - Round of 32

TBA: Singles - Round of 16

TBA: Singles Consolations

Monday, Oct. 15       

9 a.m. Doubles - Quarterfinals

TBA: Doubles - Semifinals

TBA: Singles - Quarterfinals

TBA: Singles Consolation

Tuesday, Oct. 16      

9 a.m. Doubles - Finals

TBA: Singles - Semifinals

TBA: Singles - Finals