Gustavus Adolphus College is set to host the inaugural Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Division III Women’s Indoor Championship at the Swanson Tennis Center in St. Peter, Minnesota. Eight of the top teams in Division III tennis will compete to determine the 2009 ITA Division III National Indoor Champion.
The field includes Denison University of Granville, Ohio (#3 in the current ITA National Poll), Emory University of Atlanta, Georgia (#5), the University of Mary Washington of Fredericksburg, Virgina (#6), Pomona-Pitzer Colleges of Claremont, California (#7), Carnegie Mellon University (#8) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, DePauw University of Greencastle, Indiana (#12), Coe College of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (#19), and host Gustavus Adolphus College (#18).
The tournament will begin on Friday morning with #1 Denison facing #8 Coe and #4 Pomona-Pitzer will battle #5 Carnegie Mellon at 11:30 am. In the afternoon, #3 Mary Washington plays #6 Gustavus and #2 Emory takes on #7 DePauw. The afternoon matches are slated to begin at 5:00 pm. Saturday’s schedule has the losers of Friday’s matches playing in consolation matches beginning at 8:30 am, while the winners will play in semifinal matches beginning at 2:00 pm. Consolation finals are slated to start at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. The third place and championship matches will begin at 9:00 am on Sunday morning.
Many of the top players in Division III will be taking part in the tournament including nine 2008 All-America singles players. Some of the top players include Siobhan Finicane and Rebecca Lange of Pomona-Pitzer, Tshema Nash and Sabra Rogers of Emory, Kristin Cobb and Meghan Damico of Denison, Rebecca Morse-Karzen of Mary Washington, Janelle Arita of DePauw, and Sierra Krebsbach of Gustavus.
In doubles play, eleven 2008 All-America players from around the country will be present including Jennifer Chui of Carnegie Mellon, Kayla Smith of DePauw, Sierra Krebsbach of Gustavus, Stephanie Kurti and Rebecca Morse-Karzen of Mary Washington, Siobhan Finicane and Olivia Muesse of Pomona-Pitzer, Kristin Cobb and Marta Drane of Denison, and Tshema Nash, Sabra Rogers, and Sara Vrabec of Emory.