DURHAM, N.C. – The Duke women's tennis team will be competing in the ITA Carolina Regional Championships beginning on Thursday Oct. 21 through Monday Oct. 25, in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Blue Devils are looking to earn a spot in the ITA National Indoor Championships Nov. 4-7, in Flushing, N.Y.
The Duke women's tennis team will have six individuals in singles and three teams of doubles competing in the five day tournament. The Blue Devils who will be competing in singles will be
Mary Clayton,
Monica Gorny,
Nadine Fahoum,
Ellah Nze,
Elizabeth Plotkin and
Hanna Mar.
Reka Zsilinszka will compete in doubles only, after she earned an automatic berth to the Indoor Championships at the Riviera/ ITA All-American Championships by advancing to the quarterfinals of the singles main draw.
Duke's Fahoum and Nze have been tabbed as the second-seed overall in doubles at the Carolina Regionals. Fahoum and Nze are coming off a stellar doubles performance at the Riviera when the Duke pair fell to conference rivals Josipa Bek and Keri Wong from Clemson in the semifinals. The pair is set to square off against the first-round winner from the match-up between Joelle Kissell and Chloe Smith from NC State and Ronia Hutterli and Erica White from Gardner-Webb on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils will have two other doubles tandems, Clayton and Gorny and Zsilinszka and Mar, joining Fahoum and Nze in doubles action. The duo of Clayton and Gorny were selected as the fourth-seed overall after winning the doubles main draw consolation championship at the Riviera two weeks ago, and they will begin their doubles competition facing off against the winner of Masha Belaya and Klara Vsykocialova from Clemson and Yasmine Alkema and Sandra Herrera from Winthrop on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
The Duke pair of Zsilinszka and Mar were chosen as the fifth-seed overall in the doubles competition. Mar, a freshman, will take the court for the first time since winning her first collegiate singles title at the San Diego State Fall Classic on Oct. 3. Zsilinszka and Mar will look to carry over their strong singles play when the pair squares off against Cayla Cross and Dianna Henry from North Carolina A&T on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
The Blue Devils will open Carolina Regional action with doubles on Thursday, and the singles main draw is set to begin on Friday, Oct. 22. Admission is free of charge throughout the tournament.
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