Pitt Tennis Ready for Wildcat Invite
9/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Wildcat Invite Draws
PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women’s tennis team will compete in its second invitational of the fall season as the squad heads to Evanston, Ill., for the Wildcat Invitational hosted by Northwestern University, Sept. 25-27.
Joining Pitt and the Wildcats will be UIC, DePaul, LSU, Michigan State, Ball State, and Eastern Michigan.
“We are very excited to be playing at the Wildcat Invite,” head coach Alex Santos said. “Every single match in both doubles and singles will be a battle and we will have to embrace that mindset on every single point. We had a great week of practice and we trust our preparation. The plan is to focus on a couple main ideas and really trying to implement them, especially under pressure.”
PRESEASON GLANCE AT OPPONENTS
Representing six different collegiate conferences, the eight teams that the Panthers will be competing against are comprised of some of the NCAA’s most talented female tennis players. Seven of the Pitt’s singles opponents were recently ranked in the 2015 Oracle/ITA Women’s Division I Preseason Rankings, in addition to five different doubles teams that were ranked within the top 60 as well. The highest ranked opponent that the Panthers will see is Joana Vale Costa of LSU, who ranked 20th in singles. Additionally, Alicia Barnett and Erin Larner, the duo from Northwestern, came in at No. 18 in the preseason polls; they also placed in the national singles rankings as well.
Four of Pitt’s eight opponents had top finishes to the 2015 regular season, as LSU clinched the No. 23 spot and Northwestern took 26th spot. Close behind, DePaul finished the season at No. 33, while Michigan State finished 68th.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR
Last fall at the Wildcat Invitational, junior Audrey Ann Blakely and recent graduate Molly Wickman reached the finals in doubles but dropped an 8-4 decision to DePaul. Blakely/Wickman played to an overall doubles record of 3-1 together that included wins over Northwestern, Michigan State and FIU. As a team, the Panthers finished the invitational 5-4 in doubles.
In singles, Pitt finished the 2014 Wildcat Invitational 11-12 and saw four players reach the quarterfinals of the tournament.