Women's Tennis: Martha Thorn Invitational Preview
September 09, 2010 12:49 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - The West Virginia University tennis team will open its 2010 fall season by hosting the eighth annual Martha Thorn Invitational on Sept. 10-12. This will be the Mountaineers’ only home tournament for the season.
The annual competition is named in honor of former WVU tennis coach, Martha Thorn, who led the team for its first 27 seasons (1973-2000).
Matches will be held outdoors at the WVU Tennis Courts, located behind the WVU Coliseum, as well as indoors at the Ridgeview Racquet Club, located off of Everhart Drive.
Play will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, lasting throughout the day and continuing through the weekend. The tournament will feature four singles brackets (A, B, C and D) and two doubles brackets (A and B).
Other teams competing this weekend are Martha Thorn Invitational returnees Duquesne and Youngstown State, along with Morehead State, Xavier, Villanova, and California (Pa.).
Returning veterans include senior Ashley Pilsbury, juniors Veronica Cardenas, Kathryn Haught and Catie Wickline, and sophomores Emily Mathis and Liv Pettersson.
Incoming freshmen Allison Arnold, Mary Chupa, Anna Rodionova and Melis Tanik will also be joining the Mountaineers for the 2010-11 season.
The Mountaineers finished last year’s Martha Thorn Invitational against Duquesne and Youngstown with three title winners and two runner-ups.
WVU’s titles were won by the flight ‘A’ doubles team of former senior Stephanie LaFortune and former redshirt junior Monique Burton in an 8-2 match over Duquesne. Burton also won the flight ‘A’ singles title.
Cardenas and Pilsbury squared off in the flight ‘B’ singles competition, leaving the Mountaineers with a definite third title.
Throughout the 2010 fall season, WVU will travel to New York, Ohio and Virginia to compete in tournaments including the ARMY ECAC Invite, Queen City Classic, Hampton Roads Collegiate Invite and the ITA Regional Championships hosted by Virginia Tech.
Results for the 2010 Martha Thorn Invitational can be found at MSNsportsNET.com at the conclusion of each day’s action.
