OU Advances on Day Two of ITA Regionals in Norman

Oct. 22, 2009

NORMAN, Okla.—Sooners advance in singles and doubles Thursday as Oklahoma hosts the 2009 Wilson/ITA Central Region Women's Championships in Norman.

Main Draw Results (updated through first two rounds)

Junior Ana-Maria Constantinescu and sophomore Marie-Pier Huet each won two singles matches to advance to Friday's singles Round of 16. Oklahoma also advanced two doubles pairs on Thursday after the first two rounds of doubles. Constantinescu and freshman partner Teona Tsertsvadze will play in the doubles Round of 16 on Friday alongside fellow Sooners freshman Brittany Parks and sophomore Kristina Radan.

“I was extremely happy with our mindset going into today's play,” OU head coach David Mullins said. “We executed what we had talked about in practice this week to a very high degree and it showed in a lot of our matches.”

Constantinescu earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament and easily advanced through the first two rounds on Thursday, only dropping four game points during the first two rounds. Last year's Big 12 Player of the Year defeated OSU's Alexandra Cristello in the first round, 6-1, 6-0, before beating Kelsey Sundaram of Arkansas in the second round, 6-1, 6-2. Constantinescu will face Emily Carbone of Arkansas in the Round of 16 on Friday.

Huet, who earned the team's second-best singles record last season behind Constantinescu, defeated Gabriela Demos of Drake in the first round, 6-4, 6-1. Huet fell behind in the first set of the second round but rallied to defeat Minnesota's Alexa Palen, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. Huet will play Kansas State's Antea Huljev on Friday in the Round of 16.

“Today was a big step in Marie-Pier (Huet)'s development, for her to reach the Round of 16 in our regional,” Mullins said. “I look forward to seeing just how far she can go in the tournament.”

Radan and Tsertsvadze were eliminated in the singles first round. Radan fell to Steffi Weinstein of Nebraska, 6-0, 6-2, while Tsertsvadze lost to Weinstein's teammate Madeleine Giebert, 6-3, 6-1. Both Radan and Tsertsvadze will play in the singles consolation bracket on Friday.

In doubles play, the Sooners went 3-1 on the day after receiving two byes in the first round.

Constantinescu and Tsertsvadze defeated Minnesota's Peta Forsyth and Jackie Sperling, 8-2, in the second round after receiving a bye. The Sooner duo will face Sophia Ayala and Kaitlyn Ritchie of Missouri in the third round on Friday morning.

OU's Radan and Parks advanced to the second round after receiving a bye and edged out in-state rival Oklahoma State's Alex Cristello and Leyla Simmons, 8-6. Radan and Parks will play Madeleine Geibert and Steffi Weinstein of Nebraska in the doubles third round.

Junior Tara Eckel and Sophomore Marie-Pier Huet topped Tulsa's Caroline Beaulieu and Jie Zeng in the first round, 8-4, before losing in the second round to No. 1 seeded Claudine Paulson and Anouk Tigu of Arkansas, 8-2.

For updated results throughout the tournament, follow the links below.

Main Draw Results (updated through first two rounds)

Consolation Bracket (begins Friday)