Women's tennis set for regionals

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October 21, 2009

Women's tennis set for regionals

All seven Blue Raiders to participate

Athletic Communications

Senior Natalie Araya and the Blue Raider women's tennis team will compete at the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals this weekend. ()

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee women's tennis team will travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, Thursday-Sunday to compete in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Tournament. All seven Blue Raiders will compete in the event against the top players throughout the region.

"As a coach, I could not be much happier about our teams commitment to one another," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "We are really looking forward to this upcoming weekend of competition. Our girls are doing a great job of not only preparing but also executing the small things. There will be some great players in Cincinnati and I am excited to say we are ready."

Middle Tennessee has two of its players, freshman Yuiri Nomoto and senior Natalie Araya, listed in Friday's singles main draw. Nomoto is scheduled to play at 11:45 a.m. (CST) against Cincinnati's Elise Woulfe, while Araya is matched up against Megan Martzolf of Miami (Ohio) at Noon (CST).

In the singles qualifier flight, four Blue Raiders have contests on the docket and all are set for 10 a.m. (CST) Thursday. Sophomore Carla Nava is slated to face Xavier's Kaitlyn Zinn, classmate Alex Dachos is pitted against Cincinnati's Caitlyn O'Gara, fellow sophomore Taylor Coffey is set to line up against Memphis' Kelly Grey and second-year Marietta Bigus is due to play against Karina Kedzo of ETSU.

The women's open doubles bracket will feature three Middle Tennessee pairs with two earning automatic byes to the second round. Only the tandem of Nava and Nomoto will compete in the opening round, at 2 p.m. Thursday, against Anna Dushkina and Remi Martin of Purdue.

Byes were awarded to the combo of Araya and Bigus, and Coffey and senior Anna Djananova. Araya and Bigus will square off against Memphis' Amanda Brown and Dara Toulch, while Coffey and Djananova will battle Hannah Blatt and Catherine Newman of Vanderbilt.

The four-day tournament is hosted by the University of Cincinnati and includes players from MT, Cincinnati, Purdue, Miami (Ohio), Vanderbilt, Louisville, Xavier, ETSU, Memphis, Indiana, Tennessee, Evansville, Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky and Wright State.