Thursday, 10/18/2012

WHAT: Texas resumes fall tournament play this weekend when it begins competition at the annual ITA Texas Regional Championships. The event features each NCAA Division I school in the state of Texas. The winners of the singles and doubles draws earn automatic berths into next month’s ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in New York City.

WHEN: Play begins Friday, Oct. 19 and continues through Tuesday, Oct. 23

WHERE: Baylor Tennis Center – Waco, Texas

TOURNAMENT WEB SITE
Click here to access the tournament web site

ITA Preseason Singles Rankings (TEXAS PLAYERS)
20. Aeriel Ellis
104. Lina Padegimaite
ITA Preseason Doubles Rankings
18. Lina Padegimaite/Noel Scott

LAST TIME OUT
Texas competed at the ITA All-American Championships in Los Angeles earlier this month. Senior Aeriel Ellis competed in the main singles at a 10th consecutive national championship event but was eliminated in the first round. Junior Elizabeth Begley won a pair of matches in the event’s pre-qualifying singles draw.

THE 2012-13 LONGHORNS
Under eighth-year head coach Patty Fendick-McCain, Texas returns six student-athletes from the 2011-12 squad that landed at No. 10 in the final ITA team poll, advanced to the NCAA Championship’s round of 16 and won the Big 12 Championship.

Senior Aeriel Ellis earned her second consecutive ITA singles All-America selection last season and has qualified for all nine national championship events contested in her time as a Longhorn. The Californian has advanced to the singles round of 16 at the last two NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Lina Padegimaite (pah-day-gee-MY-tay) posted a 22-5 overall singles record and was selected as the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year last season. The native of Lithuania cruised to a 9-0 mark last season in conference play. Junior Elizabeth Begley posted an impressive 34-7 overall singles record last season, which included a 21-2 dual-match record and a 9-0 mark in conference play.

Sophomore Noel Scott knocked off several highly-ranked opponents in dual-match play last season and notched 16 singles victories as a freshman. UT also returns junior Juliana Gajic and sophomore Annat Rabinovich.