Willamette Wins All Three of its Qualifying Matches at ITA Northwest Regional
By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications
McMINNVILLE, Ore. -- Willamette University athletes won two singles matches and one doubles match for a clean sweep during qualifying for the ITA Northwest Regional in women's tennis on Friday, Sept. 28 at Linfield College. The qualifying matches were held in order to fill the final spots in the main singles and doubles brackets. Willamette's winners on Friday join several other Bearcats who were already in the main brackets in singles and doubles.
Winning singles matches for the Bearcats on Friday were Hannah Andres (Sr., Sammamish, WA/Skyline HS) and Alexis Schwartz (So., Ontario, OR/Ontario HS). The doubles team of Schwartz and Rachel Kong (Sr., Hayward, CA/Castro Valley HS) also earned a victor for Willamette.
The tournament is sponsored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Action will continue through Monday, Sept. 24.
"Hannah started solid in her singles match and never let up, while Alexis came back after being down the entire time," Willamette Head Coach Bryce Parmelly siad. "In doubles, both Alexis and Rachel played very offensively, while keeping the unforced errors to a minimum. It was a great start to the weekend, especially with how hard the girls have been training."
Andres breezed through her pro-set in singles against Jesica Eligio from Pacific University, 8-1. Schwartz faced a strong battle against Kyndal Locati of Whitworth University, but Schwartz prevailed, 8-6. In doubles, King and Schwartz rolled past Eligio and Rochelle Schoenthal of Pacific, 8-2.
Willamette will be repreented by seven Bearcats in the first round of singles on Saturday (Sept. 29). Alexis Gjurasic (Sr., Olympia, WA/Capital HS) will open the day for Willamette when she takes on Emily Brink of George Fox University at 9 a.m. (PDT). Eight other matches will get underway at 9 a.m, but Gjurasic is the only WU player who will be on a court that early.
A bit later, Sylvia Marr (So., Grants Pass, OR/Hidden Valley HS) of Willamette will play Kristi Floyd of Pacific Lutheran University, Schwartz will compete against #5-seeded Tess Kern of Linfield, and Robin Pashek (So., The Dalles, OR/The Dalles-Wahtonka HS) will battle Kelcey Bartlett from Linfield. As the day progresses, Willamette's Siena Ginsburg (So., Bend, OR/Summit HS) will face Erica Lee from Whitworth, while Alyssa Oberg (Jr., Roseville, CA/Oakmont HS) will take on #4-seeded Elsa Harris of Linfield, and Sarah Dean (So., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) will play Macarena Vives from Lewis & Clark College.
Four doubles teams will compete for Willamette in the first round on Saturday. Schwartz and Kong will match-up with the #1-seeded team, Michelle Uyeda and Harris of Linfield. Gjurasic and Ginsburg will face #7-seeded Lisa Owen and Nicole Bouche from University of Puget Sound. Marr and Andres will play against Arisa Dintcho and HannaMei Levine from Puget Sound. Pashek and Dean will encounter Kristi Floyd and Kylie Rademacher of Pacific Lutheran.