Friday, 10/05/2012

ATLANTA—The Georgia State women’s tennis team travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to face elite competition at the Roberta Allison Fall Classic on Friday.

A total of 10 ranked teams will compete in this year’s ITA-sanctioned tournament beginning at 9 a.m. CDT on Friday morning. Georgia State, ranked No. 69 in the final rankings of the 2011-12 season, is joined by Alabama (No. 11), Auburn (73), Clemson (25), Florida State (40), Georgia Tech (20), Michigan (14), Northwestern (12), Ole Miss (18) and Vanderbilt (28). Other participants include Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Samford and UAB. The Panthers enter the tournament following impressive showings in their first two fall tournaments of the 2012-13 season.

GSU, led by sixth-year head coach Miha Lisac, hosted two tournaments on back-to-back weekends last month to kick-off the fall slate. First was the Atlanta Classic from Sept. 14-16 where stellar underclassmen sophomore Chaimaa Roudami and freshman Natallia Vavulina paced a dominant weekend from the Panthers. GSU then hosted three ranked teams for the Southern Shootout where several players posted undefeated weekends and junior Abigail Tere-Apisah defeated two nationally-ranked singles foes.

Georgia State returns to the Roberta Allison Fall Classic for a second consecutive year. Last year sophomore Masa Grgan paced the Panthers by posting a perfect 3-0 singles record to win her flight. Grgan also teamed with senior Whitney Byrd to earn two victories against doubles pairs from MTSU and Mississippi.

All of the student-athletes on GSU’s roster will compete, with the exception of junior Abigail Tere-Apisah. Tere-Apisah is a main draw entrant in the 2012 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championship in Pacific Palisades, Calif.