University of Tennessee Athletics
ENCINA READY FOR ITA NATIONAL INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
November 05, 2003 | Women's Tennis
Nov. 5, 2003
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
University of Tennessee senior Tammy Encina has earned an at-large bid to compete at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championships, held from Nov. 6-9 in Ann Arbor, Mich. A number of other Lady Vols, meanwhile, will be in action at the Southeastern Conference Coaches Tournament, also held over Nov. 6-9, at Peachtree City, Ga.
Encina, tabbed No. 27 in the ITA preseason rankings, will be matched up against Georgia's Shadisha Robinson in the Round of 32 on Thursday. If she defeats Robinson, Encina will face either ninth-ranked and seventh-seeded Amanda Johnson of Duke, or No. 14 Jessica Carleton of UCLA in the Round of 16 on Friday. The tournament will continue with quarterfinals also on Friday, semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday.
No. 3 Raquel Kops-Jones of California will hold the No. 1 singles seed by virtue of her title at the season's first national tournament, the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, which was played in October. Following Kops-Jones in singles seeding are: defending champion No. 1 Agata Cioroch of Georgia, No. 4 Cristelle Grier of Northwestern, No. 8 Alexis Gordon of Florida, No. 13 Julie Coin of Clemson, No. 7 Darian Panova of Oregon, Johnson and No. 6 Alice Barnes of Stanford.
While Encina competes at the indoor championships, six other Lady Vols will be in action at the SEC Coaches Tournament. Juniors Majen Immink, Breanna Kray, Erin Cohn and Claudia Farace, sophomore Melissa Schaub and freshman Blakeley Griffith, will all be competing at the event. Although draws for the tourney are not yet available, the competition should give the Lady Vols a preview of some of their competitors in the SEC.
The weekend of action will mark the final competition of the fall for Tennessee. The Orange and White are schedule to open their spring season with the Kickoff Classic in Las Vegas, Nev., over Jan. 16-18.
ITA NATIONAL INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
UT Singles Schedule for Thurs., Nov. 6
#27 Encina (UT) vs. Shadisha Robinson (Georgia), (Round of 32)
