COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M’s Ines Deheza (pronounced ee-nez de-hay-za) and Rutuja Bhosale (pronounced roo-too-ja bo-sah-lee) have advanced to the qualifying round in doubles at the prestigious Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championship after winning three matches in the prequalifying doubles draw last weekend in Los Angeles.
Deheza, a sophomore, and Bhosale, a freshman, topped Sarah McLean and Yang Pang of Arkansas, 8-7 (4), in the first round of the 32-team prequalifying bracket and then defeated Spencer Liang and Monica Lin of Harvard, 8-6, in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, the Aggie tandem defeated Nino Mebuke and Klara Supejova of Eastern Michigan, 8-3. With the quarterfinal victory, the Aggies became one of four teams from the prequalifying draw to earn an automatic berth in the qualifying draw, which will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Deheza came within a match of advancing to the singles qualifying tournament, defeating Caroline Schnell of Denver, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the prequalifying draw and eliminating Alexandra Perper of Mississippi State with a 7-6, 6-4 second-round victory. Deheza was then pitted against 80th-ranked and No. 3 seed Chanelle Van Nguyen of UCLA in the round of 16 for a chance to advance, as the eight players that reach the quarterfinals earn an automatic entry into the qualifying draw. Van Nguyen, playing on her home court, topped Deheza, 6-1, 6-1.
Bhosale suffered a first round loss in singles prequalifying draw, falling to Romy Koelzer of Clemson, 6-3, 6-3.
A&M sophomore Anna Mamalat reached the second round in singles, defeating Callie Craig of Utah, 7-5, 6-4, in the opening round before falling to Jessica Wacnik of Boston College, 6-3, 6-4.
A&M senior Cristina Stancu received entry into the singles qualifying bracket and will begin competition on Tuesday. She also will compete with partner Stefania Hristov in the main draw of doubles, which begins Thursday.
Main draw singles semifinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions will receive automatic entry into the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships Nov. 7-10 in Flushing, N.Y.
For complete brackets and more information on the tournament, go to ITATennis.com.
Three Aggie freshmen competed in the rain-shortened Rice Invitational, Friday and Saturday in Houston. Jana McCord and Mason Strickland each picked up first-round, straight-set victories in their respective flights and also won their third-place matches. Saska Gavrilovska fell in her first-round singles match.
In doubles, McCord and Strickland suffered a first-round loss and were unable to play a consolation match due to weather.
Visit AggieAthletics.com for more information on Texas A&M women’s tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women’s tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Aggie-Womens-Tennis/143874782434654
Riviera/ITA All-American Championships
Prequalifying Results (Sept. 28-28, Los Angeles):
Singles
R64 Romy Koelzer (Clemson) def. Rutuja Bhosale (A&M), 6-3, 6-3
R64 #106 Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Caroline Schnell (Denver), 6-3, 6-3
R64 #108 Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Callie Craig (Utah), 7-5, 6-4
R32 #106 Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Alexandra Perper (Mississippi State), 6-1, 6-1
R32 Jessica Wacnik (Boston College) def. #108 Anna Mamalat (A&M), 6-3, 6-4
R16 #80 Chanelle Van Nguyen (UCLA) def. #106 Ines Deheza (A&M), 6-1, 6-1
Doubles
R32 Rutuja Bhosale/Ines Deheza (A&M) def. Sarah McLean/Yang Pang (Arkansas), 8-7 (4)
R16 Deheza/Rutuja (A&M) def. Spencer Liang/Monica Lin (Harvard), 8-6
QF Deheza/Rutuja (A&M) def. Nino Mebuke/Klara Supejova (Eastern Michigan), 8-3
Rice Invitational, Houston, Texas
Singles:
Flight 1
QF Kaysie Hermsdorf (ACU) def. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M), 6-0, 6-4
C-SF Polina Konop (NSU) def. Saska Gavrilovska (A&M), 3-0, default
Flight 2
QF Jana McCord (A&M) def. Monica Pieratt (TXST), 6-2, 6-4
SF Kimberly Anicete (Rice) def. Jana McCord (A&M), 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
3rd Jana McCord (A&M) def. Charlotte Phillips (UH), 6-2, 6-2
Flight 4
QF Mason Strickland (A&M) def. Eva Dench (TXST), 6-2, 6-4
SF Laurence Pelchat (UM) def. Mason Strickland (A&M), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
3rd Mason Strickland def. Maddy Murray (UM), 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (4)
Doubles:
Flight 1
QF Kaysie Hermsdorf/Brittney Reed (ACU) def. Jana McCord/Mason Strickland (A&M), 8-0
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics