Nov. 3, 2004
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Junior Maja Kovacek and sophomore Iva Gersic are all set for this week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships starting Thursday at the University of Michigan Varsity Tennis Center. The 11th-ranked Lobo tandem will take on 28th-ranked Audrey Banada and Megan Bradley of Miami at 9 a.m. ET tomorrow.
This week’s event, which concludes Sunday, is the second of three national tournaments during the 2004-05 collegiate tennis season. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships were inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women.
Kovacek and Gersic earned a bid to the National Indoor Championships after their quarterfinal performance at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships held Oct. 1-10 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The top four seeds in doubles this week are:
Women
1. Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan, Florida
2. Catrina Thompson and Christian Thompson, Notre Dame
3. Jennifer Magley and Zerene Reyes, Florida
4. Maja Mlakar and Dianne Hollands, Arizona
Florida’s Benik and Frangulyan are both freshman and emerged from two sets of qualfying tournaments to win last month’s ITA All-American. The team they beat in the final, Notre Dame’s Catrina and Christian Thompson, were the first set of twins to reach a national women’s doubles final since 1989.
This weekend’s semifinal and final matches will be broadcast live on the internet on www.RadioTennis.com. A complete schedule of play is listed on the www.itatennis.com. Admission to the event is free to general public.