Wildcats Head Back to Oklahoma for ITA Regional Championships
Oct 17, 2019 | Tennis
MANHATTAN, Kan. – After a historic performance at the ITA All-American Championships, the Kansas State women's tennis team will return to action on Friday as the group heads to Norman, Oklahoma for the ITA Central Regional Championships at the Headington Family Tennis Center.
Seven Wildcats are expected to compete in the five-day event, including senior Ines Mesquita, juniors Maria Linares, Anna Turco and Margot Decker and sophomores Ioana Gheorghita, Rosanna Maffei and Karine-Marion Job. All seven will compete in singles, while the doubles teams of Decker and Turco and Mesquita and Job will also see action at the tournament. Exact matchups will be released on Thursday night.
"Each year we base our fall around the Regionals," said Head Coach Jordan Smith. "All of our training is catered so that we can peak and have a good showing at this tournament. We've had past success with singles the last few years. As much as we would like to lean on that, this team knows that each time is different and all of them have to be ready for the next challenge. I would like to see them see us continue building on the momentum in doubles and have good performances, along with the singles. Any of these seven players and two doubles' teams can make a run at this tournament. I'm excited to get close to our full squad competing in one place. We've been split all fall. Even though we have a veteran team, its still going to be a great opportunity for us to build on our team dynamic."
In last season's ITA Central Regional Championship in Iowa City, Iowa, Decker and Linares each reached the Round of 16 in singles play, while Turco won the consolation bracket with victories against opponents from Oklahoma and Missouri. Mesquita split her two matches in 2018, while Gheorghita lost in the first round. This will be the first appearances for Maffei and Job at the event.
Competing in the regional tournament for the fifth consecutive year, K-State will look to expand upon its recent success after taking part at the ITA All-American Championships earlier this month. The Wildcats advanced to the qualifying round in singles play for the first time in school history in part to three-comeback performances from Linares, who entered the Pre-Qualifying round as the No. 106 ranked player by the ITA.
For the doubles portion of the event, Turco and Decker advanced to the last match of the qualifying round and had a chance to move into the main draw event at the tournament after notching victories against teams from Wake Forest and Duke.
All of that combined, the Wildcats would produce one of their greatest outings for fall play in school history with four single wins and three doubles victories. With four participants at the event, K-State set a program record for the number of individuals playing in the prestigious tournament.
In addition to the success by Decker, Linares and Turco at the ITA Championships, Maffei, Gheorghita and Job have also notched impressive starts to the fall season.
In the first competition of the 2019 fall slate at the Marliss Gruver Invitational, Maffei won the Flight A bracket title in Auburn, Alabama as the Atripalda, Italy native produced four straight victories to become the first player to win three or more matches in a fall tournament since Decker did so at the UNC Invitational on November 3-5, 2017.
Gheorghita would follow up in the Flight B bracket of the Marliss Gruver Invitational with a third-place finish, notching three wins in singles competition.
Job has competed in two of the three fall events thus far in 2019 for K-State, claiming a seventh-place finish at the Marliss Gruver Invitational in the Flight A bracket while grabbing a doubles victory in the Qualifying Round at the ITA All-American Championships with Linares.
Over the course of three tournaments in the 2019 fall season, K-State has earned 15 victories in singles play while obtaining six wins in doubles competition.
For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or Kansas State Tennis on Facebook.
Seven Wildcats are expected to compete in the five-day event, including senior Ines Mesquita, juniors Maria Linares, Anna Turco and Margot Decker and sophomores Ioana Gheorghita, Rosanna Maffei and Karine-Marion Job. All seven will compete in singles, while the doubles teams of Decker and Turco and Mesquita and Job will also see action at the tournament. Exact matchups will be released on Thursday night.
"Each year we base our fall around the Regionals," said Head Coach Jordan Smith. "All of our training is catered so that we can peak and have a good showing at this tournament. We've had past success with singles the last few years. As much as we would like to lean on that, this team knows that each time is different and all of them have to be ready for the next challenge. I would like to see them see us continue building on the momentum in doubles and have good performances, along with the singles. Any of these seven players and two doubles' teams can make a run at this tournament. I'm excited to get close to our full squad competing in one place. We've been split all fall. Even though we have a veteran team, its still going to be a great opportunity for us to build on our team dynamic."
In last season's ITA Central Regional Championship in Iowa City, Iowa, Decker and Linares each reached the Round of 16 in singles play, while Turco won the consolation bracket with victories against opponents from Oklahoma and Missouri. Mesquita split her two matches in 2018, while Gheorghita lost in the first round. This will be the first appearances for Maffei and Job at the event.
Competing in the regional tournament for the fifth consecutive year, K-State will look to expand upon its recent success after taking part at the ITA All-American Championships earlier this month. The Wildcats advanced to the qualifying round in singles play for the first time in school history in part to three-comeback performances from Linares, who entered the Pre-Qualifying round as the No. 106 ranked player by the ITA.
For the doubles portion of the event, Turco and Decker advanced to the last match of the qualifying round and had a chance to move into the main draw event at the tournament after notching victories against teams from Wake Forest and Duke.
All of that combined, the Wildcats would produce one of their greatest outings for fall play in school history with four single wins and three doubles victories. With four participants at the event, K-State set a program record for the number of individuals playing in the prestigious tournament.
In addition to the success by Decker, Linares and Turco at the ITA Championships, Maffei, Gheorghita and Job have also notched impressive starts to the fall season.
In the first competition of the 2019 fall slate at the Marliss Gruver Invitational, Maffei won the Flight A bracket title in Auburn, Alabama as the Atripalda, Italy native produced four straight victories to become the first player to win three or more matches in a fall tournament since Decker did so at the UNC Invitational on November 3-5, 2017.
Gheorghita would follow up in the Flight B bracket of the Marliss Gruver Invitational with a third-place finish, notching three wins in singles competition.
Job has competed in two of the three fall events thus far in 2019 for K-State, claiming a seventh-place finish at the Marliss Gruver Invitational in the Flight A bracket while grabbing a doubles victory in the Qualifying Round at the ITA All-American Championships with Linares.
Over the course of three tournaments in the 2019 fall season, K-State has earned 15 victories in singles play while obtaining six wins in doubles competition.
For the latest on K-State tennis follow @kstatesports and @KStateTEN on Twitter or Kansas State Tennis on Facebook.
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