September 24, 2007

Grove City competes in ITA Regional Championships

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Seven Grove City College women's tennis players competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Southeast Regional Championships Friday-Sunday at the University of Mary Washington.

Junior Chris Sager (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North) and sophomore Kait Garcia (Erie, Pa./McDowell) advanced to the semifinals of the Gray doubles draw and finished the weekend with a 2-1 record. Sager and Garcia opened the draw with a 9-7 win over Haverford's Ellen De Moll and Amanda Zheutlin. In the quarterfinals, Garcia-Sager topped Meredith College's LeeAnna Outlaw and Molly Parks.

However, Dickinson's Alex Bybel-Sarah Woodward eliminated Sager and Garcia in the semifinals, 8-3.

Senior Julie Bellissimo (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) and sophomore Kristin Taylor (Westerville, Ohio/Worthington Christian) went 1-1 in the Blue doubles bracket. They opened play with a 9-7 victory over Franklin & Marshall's Dani Barish and Julia Lange. In the second round, the Muhlenberg combination of Jacqi Magner and Sara Sutker eliminated Bellissimo-Taylor, 8-4.

Sophomore Nicole Andreini (Wheeling, W. Va./Wheeling Central Catholic) and junior Tamara Nations (Kailua, Hawaii/Homeschooled) competed in the Championship doubles draw, going 1-1. Andreini and Nations opened the tournament with an 8-1 victory over Meredith College's Morgan Martin and Meredith Roberson. In the second round, Mary Washington's Stephanie Kurti and Rebecca Morse-Karzen eliminated Andreini-Nations, 8-0.

Andreini also went 1-1 in the Championship singles bracket. She earned a 7-5, 6-2 victory in the opening round over Elizabethtown's Emma Smith. Mary Washington's Courtney Goimarac ousted Andreini in the second round, 6-0, 6-1. Nations, meanwhile, dropped a 6-0, 6-2 decision to Muhlenberg's Jennifer Powell in the first round of the Championship draw.

Both Sager and Taylor reached the semifinals of the Gray singles draw. Sager received a first-round bye and then downed Washington (Md.) College's Kristine Depew in the second round, 6-3, 6-3. Sager then topped Moravian's Beth Endy in the quarterfinals, 7-6 and 6-1. DeSales' Jess Smith ended Sager's run in the semis, though, 8-5.

Following a first-round bye, Taylor rolled past Haverford's Meaghan Ryan in the second round, 6-4, 6-1. Taylor then advanced to the semifinals with a hard-fought 6-7, 6-2, 10-4 win over Meredith's Cuyler Wells. Taylor then fell to Bridgewater's Diana Ricker in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-2.

Bellissimo posted two victories in the Gray singles bracket and reached the quarterfinals. In the first round, Bellissimo downed Hollins University's Tiffany Robinette, 6-2, 6-1. Bellissimo blitzed Sweet Briar's Lieschen Cluiss in the second round, 6-1, 6-0 before falling to Ricker in the quarterfinals, 6-2, 6-4.

Sophomore Lisa Baldwin (Charlotte, N.C./Covenant Day) advanced to the second round of the Blue singles draw. Baldwin topped DeSales' Kate Steiner in the first round, 6-2, 6-3. Baldwin dropped a 7-5, 6-1 verdict to Mary Washington's Priscilla Jamison in the second round. Garcia also competed in the Blue singles bracket, falling to Washington College's Sarah Macht, 6-2 and 7-6.

Grove City returns to action Thursday against Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Waynesburg.

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