Tennis Opens 2014-15 Fall Season at Home
September 25, 2014 03:09 PM | General
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Lone senior Ikttesh Chahal is one of the four returning players leading the Mountaineers this season
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MORGANTOWN W.Va – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team opens its 2014 fall season at home from September 26-28 in the Pink Invitational. The Mountaineers will wear pink jerseys in support of breast cancer awareness.
“We are very excited to start hosting home tournaments and have our players compete against other teams in order to gauge where we are as a program at this point of the season,” second year coach Miha Lisac said.
West Virginia will have a full slate of competition each of the three days, facing off against Cleveland State, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Buffalo.
In the doubles tournament sophomore Kaja Mrgole will team up with freshman Carolina Lewis. In addition, freshman Yvon Martinez will pair up with redshirt freshman Lyn Yuen Choo, and lone senior Ikttesh Chahal will pair up with junior Hailey Barrett.
“We are looking for players, returning and freshmen, to have a good start to the fall semester,” Lisac said. “We are looking to incorporate the things we have been working on as a team and individually into our play this weekend.”
The Mountaineers return four players from the 2013 season. With a majority of last year’s lineup back and the addition of three talented freshmen, Lisac has his team in position to work towards their goals in the fall season and ascend throughout Big 12 Conference play this spring.
“Fall is the time when we can get better. During the fall the team and the players have opportunities to take their games to the next level, and prepare for the upcoming spring semester and grow together as a team,” Lisac said.
With only two upperclassmen on the roster, Lisac knows that his young team must lean on the leadership of Chahal and Barrett.
Mrgole is expected to play a major role this season as she competed primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles last year. A native of Jesenice, Slovenia, Mrgole posted a No. 9 ranking in doubles play in the Mid-Atlantic region by the ITA to start the 2014 spring season.
Mrgole is coming off a team-high 13 wins in the 2014 spring season (24-39 overall), as well as three straight wins in doubles matches in the USA/ITA Atlantic Region, reaching the quarterfinals in the fall.
Choo, Lewis and Martinez will make their debuts as Mountaineers at the Pink Invitational.
Choo, a native of Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, did not compete in the 2013-14 season. Choo competed in several international tournaments during her prep career, and claimed the doubles title at the 2014 BMW Malaysian National Tennis Circuit.
Lewis was ranked the 20th-best high school senior in the Southeast and 67th in the nation. Lewis, a native from Hilton Head, South Carolina, was South Carolina’s No. 1 tennis recruit.
Martinez, a native from Wexford, Pennsylvania, competed at the No. 2 spot during her prep career, and placed second at the 2014 Oglebay Tournament.
Play on Friday, Sept. 26, will begin at 9 a.m. ET. A recap of the day’s events will be available following each day of competition on WVUSports.com.
WVU Pink Invitational Schedule
Friday 9/26/2014:
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Singles Competition
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Doubles Competition (West Virginia)
1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Singles Competition (West Virginia)
Saturday 9/27/2014:
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Singles Competition
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. Doubles Competition (West Virginia)
1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Doubles Competition (West Virginia)
2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Singles Competition (West Virginia)
Sunday 9/28/2014:
9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Singles Competition
12 p.m. – 4 p.m. Singles Competition (West Virginia)
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
