Dittmer advances through qualifying singles; action begins at 9 a.m. Saturday
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tiffany Dittmer advanced through qualifying singles to reach the main draw and two Ohio State doubles teams remain in the main draw at the 2011 USTA/ITA Division 1 Women’s Midwest Regional Championships following the conclusion of matches Friday. The Buckeyes are hosting the event, which features a 48-team doubles main draw and a 48-player singles main draw and is being held in The Ohio State University Varsity Indoor Tennis Center.
Dittmer opened the day for the Buckeyes with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Akron’s Natalia Kuvakina to earn one of eight berths into the main draw from the singles qualifying bracket. The Hamburg, Germany, native joins six Buckeye teammates in the draw, which begins at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The doubles tandem of Kara Cecil and Kelsey Dieters downed the Illinois-Chicago duo of Mariya Kovaleva and Elisa Simonetti in the second round, 8-2, after a first-round bye. They will face DePaul’s Patricia Fargas and Rebeca Mitrea at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Kelsey Haviland and Noelle Malley will join Cecil and Dieters in the Round of 16 Saturday after a pair of thrilling victories. The Scarlet and Gray duo mounted a furious comeback after falling to an early 5-2 deficit against Illinois’ Julia Jamieson and Amy Allin. The Buckeyes roared back to tie the match before jetting ahead to take a 9-7 decision.
Haviland and Malley found themselves on the other end of the spectrum in the second round against Michigan’s Michelle Sulahain and Mimi Nguyen, jumping out to a 5-2 lead. The Wolverine duo chiseled the Buckeye lead to 6-5, but the Ohio State tandem found a spark on the way to an 8-5 victory. Haviland and Malley will face Brittany Wowchuck and Belinda Niu of Northwestern in the Round of 16.
Gabby Steele and Fidan Manashirova notched an opening-round victory against Kara Sherwood and Nicole Janek of Cleveland State, 8-5, but fell to Notre Dame’s Chrissie McGaffigan and Jennifer Kellner in the second round, 8-5.
After dropping their first-round match against Angelina Jogasuria and Angelika Jogasuria of Akron, 8-3, the Buckeye duo of Dittmer and Kelsey Becker rebounded in consolation action with an 8-2 win against Akron’s Ksenia Berestetska and Natalia Kuvakina.
The third round of main draw doubles begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the opening matches of main draw singles following at 11 a.m. The tournament is scheduled to run through Tuesday.
