Michigan
Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Qualifying/Main Draw
Shafner Qualifies for Main Draw at ITA Midwest Regional
10/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Sophomore Allie Shafner (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) of the University of Michigan women's tennis team advanced to the main singles draw at the 2005 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships after earning her third straight victory in qualifying action Friday morning (Oct. 21) at the MSU Indoor Tennis Facility. One Wolverine tandem is also alive in the doubles main draw, as senior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, New Jersey/The Montclair Kimberley Academy) posted wins in the opening two rounds later in the afternoon.
After tallying two straight-set victories Thursday (Oct. 20) to advance to a singles qualifying final, Shafner outlasted Notre Dame's Kelly Nelson 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to secure one of eight spots into the 64-player main draw, which starts tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 22). Shafner has now won six straight matches and holds a fall record of 6-1.
Yaftali and Sugiyama made their career debut as a doubles team a successful one as they edged out Bradley's Elise Montrose and Ashley Morris 9-7 to move on to the second round. The Wolverine duo then advanced to the round of 16 after outlasting Illinois' Momie Qu and Emily Wang, 8-6. Yaftali and Sugiyama will face Northwestern's Nazlie Ghazal and Georgia Rose tomorrow at 9 a.m.
Two Michigan doubles pairings split their matches. Shafner and junior Kara Delicata (LaSalle, Ontario/Sandwich Secondary School) cruised past Butler's Kim Jenson and Carrie Rachon 8-1 to begin the afternoon, but fell to Ohio State's Ciara Finucane and Kristin Messmer 8-6 in second round. Senior Debra Streifler (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and junior Elizabeth Exon (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) opened with an 8-0 sweep of Michigan State's Marianne Eelens and Ana Milosavljevic before dropping an 8-6 decision to Notre Dame's No. 60-ranked Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft.
Playing for the first time together, junior Lindsey Goldstein (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park HS) and freshman Lindsey Howard (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwin HS) lost a tough match to Ohio State's Julie Blackmore and Caitlin O'Keefe, 9-7, in the first round of play.
Shafner will join Delicata, Exon, Streifler, Sugiyama and Yaftali in the first round of the main singles draw, which begins tomorrow at 10 a.m.
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
