#10 Tartans Open ITA National Indoor Tournament with Win Over #11 WashU

#10 Tartans Open ITA National Indoor Tournament with Win Over #11 WashU

(CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.) – The 10th-ranked Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team opened play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship with an 8-1 victory against 11th-ranked Washington University in St. Louis. The first-round win marks the eighth such victory in the tournament for the Tartans in ten appearances. This year's championship is being hosted by Sewanee with today's match played at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Tartans (9-1) started by sweeping doubles action with scores of 8-6, 8-5, and 8-6. Senior Cori Sidell (Redwood Shores, Calif. / Carlmont) and sophomore Courtney Ollis (Suffern, N.Y. / Suffern) earned the win at first doubles while sophomore Vinaya Rao (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Adlai E. Stevenson) and freshman Melissa Strome (West Bloomfield, Mich. / West Bloomfield) won at second doubles and senior Katie Lai (Hagatna, Guam / St. Andrew's Episcopal School) and junior Jamie Vizelman (Highland Heights, Ohio / Mayfield) won at third doubles.

In singles play, Sidell, who is currently ranked 34th nationally, topped the 18th-ranked player in Grace Deering, 6-4, 6-2, at the first position. The final point of the match was earned at second singles by Rao, who is ranked 31st, when she defeated 17th-ranked Ashley Lessen, 6-2, 7-6.

In between those wins, Vizelman won 6-3, 6-2 at third singles, Strome won 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 at fifth singles and junior Marina Selenica (Birmingham, Mich. / Detroit Country Day School) won 6-0, 7-5 at sixth singles.

The Tartans will meet the winner of first-ranked Emory University and 17th-ranked Sewanee in the championships semifinal on Saturday, March 3 at 1:00 p.m.