University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Kelsey Coots had an outstanding day of qualifying at the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals in Knoxville, Tenn. She advanced to the main draw in singles and doubles with a pair of wins in each bracket.
Coots teamed with fellow junior Alison Storie to play their way into the doubles bracket. The pair won two matches, opening with an 8-6 win over Miami’s Ramona Costeau and Andreea Badileanu. They moved on with an 8-4 win against Xavier’s Sydney Liggins and Daniella Patton.
Coots won two tight matches in straight sets to advance in singles.
She defeated Murray State’s Megan Blue (6-2, 7-6 (5)) and Ball State’s Bethany Moore (6-4, 7-6 (5)) in second-set tiebreakers.
Seniors Claire Mulyadi and Kaylene Chadwell also competed in qualifying doubles today. They won their first match, 8-3 over Northern Kentucky’s Hailey Shanahan and Daniella Donahue. They were knocked out in their second by Miami’s Christine Guerrazzi and Ana Rajkovic 8-6.
Storie posted a singles win in qualifying, a (6-3, 6-0) victory over NKU’s Donahue. She was knocked out by Western Kentucky’s Andreanna Christopoulou (6-2, 6-1).
The doubles main draw begins on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. Junior Kayla Jones and freshman Samantha Caswell were already in the main draw and face the No. 6 seed Ashleigh Antal and Astra Sharma from Vanderbilt at the Goodfriend Tennis Center on Tennessee’s campus. Coots and Storie play Tennessee’s No. 8 seed Brittany Lindl and Victoria Olivarez at the Knoxville Racquet Club.
Singles main draw starts at 1:00 p.m. with Chadwell facing the No. 5 seed Marta Morga from Memphis. Jones takes on Indiana’s Shannon Murdy and both matches are at the Goodfriend Tennis Center. Coots faces UT Martin’s Hitomi Naito at the Knoxville Racquet Club.
Follow all of the action on Twitter @ITAOhioValley or on @GoMocsWTEN. A live blog from the event is available here and complete results will be posted on GoMocs.com following each day of competition.
Qualifying Rounds
Doubles
Claire Mulyadi-Kaylene Chadwell (UTC) def. Hailey Shanahan-Danielle Donahue (NKU) – 8-3
Kelsey Coots-Alison Storie (UTC) def. Ramona Costeau-Andreea Badileanu (Miami) – 8-6
Christine Guerrazzi-Ana Rajkovic (Miami) def. Claire Mulyadi-Kaylene Chadwell (UTC) – 8-6
Kelsey Coots-Alison Storie (UTC) def. Sydney Liggins-Daniella Patton (Xavier) – 8-4
Singles
Kelsey Coots (UTC) def. Megan Blue (Murray State) – 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Kelsey Coots (UTC) def. Bethany Moore (Ball State) - 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Alison Storie (UTC) def. Danielle Donahue (NKU) – 6-3, 6-0
Andreanna Christopoulou (WKU) def. Allison Storie (UTC) - 6-2, 6-1
Hitomi Naito (UTM) def. Claire Mulyadi (UTC) – 6-4, 6-3
Reginka Nychytailova (ETSU) def. Samantha Caswell (UTC) – 6-4, 6-1