Yaftali and Sugiyama Compete at ITA National Event
8/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Senior Nina Yaftali (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and freshman Chisako Sugiyama (Parsippany, N.J./The Montclair Kimberley Academy)of the University of Michigan women's tennis team competed in the 2005 ITA National Summer Championships, held Aug. 13-16 at Indiana University's Varsity Tennis Center. Yaftali and Sugiyama took part in the 64-player singles draw and teamed together in the 32-team doubles bracket.
Yaftali earned a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Kirsten Gambrell (Bay Village, Ohio) in the opening round of the singles competition but fell 6-3, 6-2 to third-seeded Alexis Prousis of Northwestern in the round of 32.
Sugiyama suffered a 7-6, 6-2 setback to ninth seed Tory Zawacki of Duke in the first round but rebounded to post a pair of dominating victories in the consolation draw. Sugiyama gave up just one game against her first two opponents, defeating Bloomington, Ind., native Lana Khuong (6-0, 6-0) and Indianapolis, Ind., native Lindsey Fischer (6-0, 6-1). Sugiyama was unable to move into the semifinal round, falling to eventual consolation champion Daisy Ames of Brown, 6-3, 6-2.
Yaftali and Sugiyama drew a first-round bye in the doubles draw and defeated Amanda El-Tobgy (Seton Hall) and Alexis Plukas (Penn) 8-3 to advance to the quarterfinal round. The Wolverine duo was eliminated after an 8-3 loss to third seed and eventual champion Sarah Batty and Laura McGaffigan of Indiana.
The ITA National Summer Championships, presented by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 23 regional sites throughout the country last month. The singles and doubles champions from this week's championships earned wild cards into the first national tournaments of the 2005-06 collegiate tennis season -- the Polo Ralph Lauren Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., Oct. 6-9 (the finalists earned wild cards into the qualifying tournaments).
Contact: Marc Ressler (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
