Day 1 of ITA Regionals Successful for Kangaroos

ABILENE, TX - Day 1 of the ITA Southwest Regional Tournament proved successful for the Kangaroo Women's Tennis Team of Austin College.

7 Women's Tennis Players got wins in singles, compiling 9 wins in total for the 'Roos, and 4 players remain in the tournament for Day 2, which begins at 8:00 am on Saturday.

Kirsten Weber won the 'Roos first 1st-round A-Draw singles match for Austin College in over two years.  The sophomore advanced to the Round of 32 in dominant fashion over Perez from UT-Tyler 6-1, 6-0.

While Weber would eventually fall to the 3rd-seeded Joseph of UT-Dallas, her 6-3, 6-4 was competitive against such a highly seeded player who is anticipated to compete for a final spot in the tournament this weekend.

First-Year Anna Sergiovanni played phenomenally in her ITA debut, challenging the 7th-seeded Bramlett (last year's ITA Doubles Runner-Up and A-Draw Consolation Winner) 13-11 in a deciding 10-point super tiebreaker.

The rookie Kangaroo sent shockwaves through the tournament with her impressive result, and followed it up with a decisive victory over her opponent in the Consolation Round of 32, extending her stay until at least Saturday morning.

Junior Grace Ortiz fought valiantly against the 5th-seeded Arrieta of UT-Tyler, but was unable to register a game on the scorecards.  That same problem was shared by her opponent in the Consolation Round of 32, as Ortiz posted an unblemished performance, advancing to the Round of 16 on Saturday.

Katie Seibert found herself up 3-0 in the 2nd set of her match against the 16-seed, but was unable to hold the lead, falling 6-3, 7-5 against a tough competitor.  But she would learn from her mistakes in her consolation match, taking the 2nd set 6-1 and forcing a third set super tiebreaker.  Unfortunately, she would fall in the match tiebreak, but would gain a lot of meaningful experience to take with her into the spring.

Carlye Lide's first round match was a tale of two sets, winning the first 6-4, but falling 0-6 in the second.  Her experience as a senior in third set tiebreakers would pay off, sealing the match with a close 10-8 victory.  She would fall to the top seeded Porter from Trinity University, but the match was exciting with several long, hard-hitting rallies.

Anamariia Kheveli was dominant in her first match against a local Hardin-Simmons opponent and grinded-out a tough 6-4, 7-5 victory over a rising Concordia opponent to advance to her Quarterfinals on Saturday morning.

Katie Barber and Brenna McCown would both get victories in the 1st match of C-Draw Singles.  Barber only needed one set to emerge victorious as her opponent would retire before completion of the match, and McCown would drop 2 games.  But only Barber would move on to Day 2 as McCown would fall to a tough freshman from Hendrix College 6-2, 6-2.

In Doubles action, Weber and Ortiz would play well against the 1-seeded Lutz/Southwick of Trinity University (2015 ITA Regional Doubles Champions), but were outmatched on several points, falling 8-2.

Kheveli & Seibert would not find their groove in the first round and were defeated by a tough Concordia squad 8-2.  The lone doubles victory of the day would come from Lide & Barber over UMHB 8-6.  But their victory would be short lived, falling 8-4 to an impressive Hendrix team.

Sergiovanni, Ortiz, Kheveli, and Barber all return to action tomorrow at 8:00am on the campus of Hardin-Simmons and at Rose Park Tennis Center in Abilene, TX.

A Singles

64 - Kirsten Weber def. Nancy Perez (UTT) 6-1, 6-0

64 - (16)Kuhn (UTT) def. Katie Seibert 6-3, 7-5

64 - (5)Alexis Arrieta (UTT) def. Grace Ortiz 6-0, 6-0

64 - (7)Kate Bramlett (ETBU) def. Anna Sergiovanni 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (11)

32 - (3)Kathy Joseph (UTD) def. Weber 6-3, 6-4

Cons. 32 - Ortiz def. Kayla Tucker (OZ) 6-0, 6-0

Cons. 32 - Sergiovanni def. Sarah Sedory (UMHB) 6-0, 6-3

Cons. 32 - Sam Sterling (SchU) def. Seibert 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (8)

B Singles

32 - Carlye Lide def. Camille Kempf (CTX) 6-4, 0-6, 1-0 (8)

32 - Anamariia Kheveli def. Megan Carlson (HSU) 6-2, 6-0

16 - Kheveli def. Lisette Mata (CTX) 6-4, 7-5

16 - Blaire Porter (TU) def. Lide 6-1, 6-1

C Singles

32 - Katie Barber def. Gabby Camacho (MCM) 7-5, 1-0 ret. (def)

32 - Brenna McCown def. Rean Vanderbilt (CTX) 6-2, 6-0

16 - Barber def. Shannon Kelly (UMHB) 6-2, 6-0

16 - Becky Sherman (HC) def. McCown 6-2, 6-2

A Doubles

32 - (1)Lutz/Southwick (TU) def. Ortiz/Weber 8-2

B Doubles

32 - Lide/Barber def. Dockall/Nash (UMHB) 8-6

32 - Aarhus/Kempf (CTX) def. Kheveli/Seibert 8-2

16 - Ravikumar/Sherman (HC) def. Lide/Barber 8-4