University of Memphis Athletics
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Incoming Freshmen Win Way to ITA Summer League Finals in Week One
Jun 29, 2016 | Women's Tennis
Katherine Cao wins singles title and makes it to doubles final.
MEMPHIS – A pair of incoming freshmen for the University of Memphis women's tennis team won their way to the singles finals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)'s Summer Circuit week one event at UMKC that ended Tuesday. Freshmen sisters Katherine and Josephine Cao each advanced to the final in the singles draw, while Katherine teamed with Rutgers' signee Jaci Cochrane to also advance to the doubles finals.
Katherine Cao, who was listed as the winner of the singles draw as the duo did not play against one another in the singles final, dropped just one set en route the finals. She opened her run with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mackenzie Hill. She then defeated Sarah Cameron, 6-3, 6-1, in the Round of 16 and took out number six rated Caroline Gibbens, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the finals against the top seeded player in the draw, Pitt's Audrey Ann Blakely. Blakely, who will be a college senior for Pitt this season, won the opening set, 6-4, but Katherine evened the score with a 6-3 set two win. Playing in a tiebreaker for the chance to advance to the finals, the future Tiger prevailed with the 1-0 win.
But the finals appearance would mean a match up with twin sister, Josephine.
Josephine also won her first two matches without dropping a set, downing Valentia Caro, 6-4, 6-1, then taking down Lindsay Haight, a freshman from Bradley University last season, 6-0, 6-2. Josephine then took down her first seeded opponent, defeating number four seeded Cochrane, her sister's doubles partner, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 1-0 (3) to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, Josephine was to face Sarah Lounsbury, but her opponent had to withdraw, giving Josephine a walk over in to a finals match against her sister.
On the doubles side, the duo split up. Josephine teamed with Sydney Harlow. They won their quarterfinal match, 8-3, then took top-seeded Grace Ball and Blakely to a tiebreaker, falling 9-8 in the semifinals.
Katherine, meanwhile, was teamed with Cochrane in doubles. The duo won their first match against Caro and Abby Reis, 8-3, then received a walkover out of the semis to face the top seeded duo of Ball and Blakely.
The one versus two seeded matchup delivered, with the top seeded team of Ball and Blakely prevailing 9-7 for the doubles title.
The ITA Summer Circuit began in 1993 and features 50 tournaments spread across 24 state over six weekends. Players that advance out of the qualifying tournaments will qualify for the ITA Summer Nationals, held Aug. 13-16 at Indiana University. Each of the qualifying tournaments is held on a college campus over the summer months, allowing junior players, current college players and alumni the opportunity to compete in organized events over the summer.
With her singles win, Katherine is now qualified for the ITA Summer Championships. The women's winner at the ITA Summer Championships will receive a wild card entry in to the main draw of the ITA All-American in the fall and a wild card in to the qualifying draw of the $50k Stockton Women's Challenger.
The week two events will be played July 1-3 at eight different universities – Cal State Northridge, Elon University, the University of Georgia, Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota), Kansas State University, University of the Pacific, University of Texas at Tyler and Western Michigan. The Kansas State tournament will be run by former Tiger men's tennis player, Jordan Smith, now an assistant coach on the women's staff at K-State.
Katherine Cao, who was listed as the winner of the singles draw as the duo did not play against one another in the singles final, dropped just one set en route the finals. She opened her run with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mackenzie Hill. She then defeated Sarah Cameron, 6-3, 6-1, in the Round of 16 and took out number six rated Caroline Gibbens, 6-2, 6-3, to advance to the finals against the top seeded player in the draw, Pitt's Audrey Ann Blakely. Blakely, who will be a college senior for Pitt this season, won the opening set, 6-4, but Katherine evened the score with a 6-3 set two win. Playing in a tiebreaker for the chance to advance to the finals, the future Tiger prevailed with the 1-0 win.
But the finals appearance would mean a match up with twin sister, Josephine.
Josephine also won her first two matches without dropping a set, downing Valentia Caro, 6-4, 6-1, then taking down Lindsay Haight, a freshman from Bradley University last season, 6-0, 6-2. Josephine then took down her first seeded opponent, defeating number four seeded Cochrane, her sister's doubles partner, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 1-0 (3) to advance to the semifinals.
In the semis, Josephine was to face Sarah Lounsbury, but her opponent had to withdraw, giving Josephine a walk over in to a finals match against her sister.
On the doubles side, the duo split up. Josephine teamed with Sydney Harlow. They won their quarterfinal match, 8-3, then took top-seeded Grace Ball and Blakely to a tiebreaker, falling 9-8 in the semifinals.
Katherine, meanwhile, was teamed with Cochrane in doubles. The duo won their first match against Caro and Abby Reis, 8-3, then received a walkover out of the semis to face the top seeded duo of Ball and Blakely.
The one versus two seeded matchup delivered, with the top seeded team of Ball and Blakely prevailing 9-7 for the doubles title.
The ITA Summer Circuit began in 1993 and features 50 tournaments spread across 24 state over six weekends. Players that advance out of the qualifying tournaments will qualify for the ITA Summer Nationals, held Aug. 13-16 at Indiana University. Each of the qualifying tournaments is held on a college campus over the summer months, allowing junior players, current college players and alumni the opportunity to compete in organized events over the summer.
With her singles win, Katherine is now qualified for the ITA Summer Championships. The women's winner at the ITA Summer Championships will receive a wild card entry in to the main draw of the ITA All-American in the fall and a wild card in to the qualifying draw of the $50k Stockton Women's Challenger.
The week two events will be played July 1-3 at eight different universities – Cal State Northridge, Elon University, the University of Georgia, Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota), Kansas State University, University of the Pacific, University of Texas at Tyler and Western Michigan. The Kansas State tournament will be run by former Tiger men's tennis player, Jordan Smith, now an assistant coach on the women's staff at K-State.
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