Sept. 28, 2012
TUCSON, Ariz. -
Arizona women’s tennis will kick off its fall season on Saturday, Sept. 29 and Sunday, Sept. 30 at the Riviera ITA Championships in Los Angeles, Calif.
Junior transfer Akilah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.) will compete in the All-American event, which features the nation’s top-ranked players. Juniors Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.) and Kim Stubbe (Mol, Belgium) were also invited to compete in the event.
In the fall season, the Wildcats will compete in five tournaments that will count toward only their individual singles and doubles rankings. Four players will partake in each tournament and all will play a minimum of three.
After the Riviera Championships, Arizona will play in the Falcon Fall Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Oct. 5-7. The remaining tournaments include the ITA Regionals in San Diego, Calif. on Oct. 18-21, the Lobos Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M. on Nov. 2-4 and the SDSU Fall Classic in San Diego, Calif. on Nov. 9-11.
The Wildcats are coming off two-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently falling in a tight match to No. 7 North Carolina in 2012. Arizona lost seniors Natasha Marks and Sarah Landsman, but returns two nationally-ranked players (Smyth – No. 25, Stubbe – No. 72) and obtains one nationally-ranked transfer in James at No. 114.
In addition, UA returns junior Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland), sophomores Hailey Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) and Laura Oldham (Sheffield, England) and welcomes freshmen Shayne Austin (Oak Park, Calif.) and Inge Hendrikx (Zundert, The Netherlands) to the 2012-13 squad.
Live results from the ITA Championships can be found at https://twitter.com/PreQualies2012.
For complete results and continued coverage of Arizona women’s tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com.
