GSU Announces Fall Schedule, hosts Tournament on Friday
ATLANTA—Coming off a successful 2011-12 season, the Georgia State women’s tennis team begins its fall schedule this Friday when it hosts the Atlanta Classic at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center in Piedmont Park.
The event, which runs from Friday to Sunday, kicks off an exciting and challenging fall schedule for sixth-year head coach Miha Lisac and the Georgia State women’s tennis team. The Panthers are coming off an 11-7 season in which they earned their highest ITA ranking in school history at No. 37 and reached the CAA Championship finals.
Georgia State hosts Emory, North Florida and UAB for the Atlanta Classic beginning this Friday. The ITA-certified tournament will record individual singles and doubles results only and won’t record team scores or records. The matches will give the returning starters a chance to earn results vs. solid competition and the newcomers a chance to adjust to the college game.
The Panthers host another tournament the following weekend when they welcome Georgia Tech, NC State and South Florida for the Southern Shootout. The tournament runs from Sept. 21-23 and will also take place at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center. The Southern Shootout features three teams that finished the year ranked in the ITA Women’s Tennis National Team rankings in Georgia State (69), Georgia Tech (20) and USF (43).
Georgia State will also send Tere-Apisah to the ITA All-American Championships taking place at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The tournament, now in its 25th year, gathers around 200 players each year to hand out the first national title of the fall tennis season. Singles quarterfinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions receive automatic entry into the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships Nov. 8-11 in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
GSU travels to the Roberta Allison Fall Classic and the ITA Southeast Regional Championship for the second-consecutive year this fall. Last season, sophomore Masa Grgan won her flight at the Roberta Allison Fall Classic hosted by the University of Alabama and senior Whitney Byrd notched a first-round victory at the ITA Regional hosted by the University of Florida.
GSU defeated three nationally-ranked opponents and advanced to the CAA Championship finals before falling 4-3 in a five-hour marathon dual-match. The highlight of last season came when junior Abigail Tere-Apisah became the first GSU tennis student-athlete, and the 21st in any sport, to earn All-America status. Tere-Apisah won her first two matches at the 2012 NCAA Singles Championship in Athens, Ga. to clinch a Round of 16 berth and the All-America honors.
Visit the women’s tennis page on www.GeorgiaStateSports.com for a full recap of each tournament. Admission for all fans to Georgia State women’s tennis home matches and tournaments at the Sharon Lester Tennis Center is free.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
