UM Women's Tennis Duo Upsets Top Seed at ITA Regional
Oct. 24, 2008
Athens, Ga. – University of Miami women’s tennis sophomores Bianca Eichkorn and Michaela Kissell unseeded 23rd-ranked and top-seeded Chelsey Gullickson and Yvette Hyndman of the University of Georgia, 8-4, Friday afternoon advancing to the semifinals of this year’s Wilson/ITA Southern Regional Women’s Tennis Championships in Flight “A” Doubles action at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia.
Rain forced today’s action to be just doubles play, and that seemed perfectly fine for the duo from Miami. Three rounds of doubles action presumed, while singles play will begin tomorrow due to severe weather in the Athens area throughout Thursday night and Friday morning.
Eichkorn and Kissell, playing together for the first time all season, entered this weekend’s tournament seeded eighth (8th) overall. Together, the sophomore tandem collected three wins on Friday to advance to the semifinals.
“This is a big win for the two of them, and for this program,” expressed eighth-year head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews shortly afterwards. “They really played well today.”
Kissell and Eichkorn began the day defeating the team of Olesya Tsigvintseva and Natalya Mayuk (Mississippi State), 8-1, in the opening round. They followed that up an hour later by outscoring the No. 50 ranked doubles team in the ITA–Whitney Chappell and Fani Chifchieva (Auburn). The Tigers combination shares the No. 50 ranking with UCLA’s double duo of Andrea Remynse and Nina Pantic.
In the next round, the Hurricanes sophomore team of Eichkorn and Kissell concluded the day’s Flight “A” Doubles upper half action with a hard-earned 8-4 victory over Yvette Hyndman and Chelsey Gullickson of the University of Georgia. The homestanding Bulldogs duo was the top seed for the “A” Doubles, and is currently ranked No. 23 in the ITA preseason rankings.
Overall, the Hurricanes have registered four doubles wins over Top 50 ranked teams, including three in the Top 25. For Kissell, this is her third time this year combining for a win over a ranked team, with two of them coming alongside normal partner two-time All-America performer Laura Vallverdu.
The eight-seeded `Canes squad faces Georgia Tech’s Christy Striplin and Noelle Hickey on Sunday in the semifinals. The ACC foe from GT is seeded fourth in this week’s tournament, and ranked No. 45 on the preseason ITA list.
Action spread over into “B” doubles for the Orange and Green as sophomore Jenna Osborne and freshman Alessa Waibel combined for a victory in the quarterfinals after collecting a bye in the opening round. The Miami combo downed USF’s Allyn Mueller and Lauren Shumate, 8-5. They face another Florida school on Sunday in the semifinals when they face off against UCF’s Jenny Frisell and Isa Ohlinger. For Osborne, she improves her doubles record on the year to 3-1, while freshman Waibel is now 3-2.
The 2008 ITA Southern Regional field features the following schools: Alabama, Alabama-Birmingham, Auburn, Central Florida, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi, Mississippi State, Samford, South Florida, Stetson and Troy.As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit presented by the USTA, and the ITA Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA website is www.itatennis.com.
Results will be updated daily on the UGA website as well at www.georgiadogs.com.
