Sooners Win All Three in Orlando

NORMAN, Okla. -- The Oklahoma women's tennis team won all three singles matches at the USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational, held in Orlando, Fla., Saturday.

OU Senior Abbi Melrose continued her strong fall showing by defeating Melissa Kopinski of Illinois 6-7, 6-0, 10-4. Melrose's record is now 11-5 on the fall.

“To get a win over the number one player from Illinois shows just how well Abbi has been playing these last few months,” said OU head coach David Mullins. “She deserves to finish off the fall season with some more wins.”

Freshmen Lily Miyazaki and Christie Brigante also recorded wins. Miyazaki defeated Caroline Eberhart of Central Florida 6-1, 6-1, and Brigante defeated Katelyn Jackson of Texas Tech 6-2, 7-6.

The remainder of the team continued play at the Jason's Deli Collegiate Invitational in Houston, Texas. The team ended the day with a 1-4 singles record and 1-2 doubles record, but continued to gain experience before spring play.

Sophomore Morgan Chumney moved to 2-0 on the weekend after defeating Amanda Rodgers of Syracuse 6-3, 6-2. The doubles duo of juniors Emma Devine and Zita Engbroks did the same after defeating Rhiann Newborn and Komal Safdar of Syracuse 8-7(1)

“Today was a tough day for us,” said OU assistant coach Boomer Saia. “We needed to give ourselves chances to win in each set and we came up short on that today. We have some quality matches tomorrow so we need to show up and be ready to play.”

Freshman Brooke Withrow withdrew from today's singles match due to injury.

The Sooners will play one round of doubles each at 9 a.m. CT and a round of singles each at 10 a.m. CT on Sunday at the Jason's Deli Collegiate Invitational.

USTA Collegiate Clay Court Invitational

Singles:

Abbi Melrose (OU) def. Melissa Kopinski (ILL) 6-7, 6-0, 10-4

Lily Miyazaki (OU) def. Caroline Eberhart (UCF) 6-1, 6-1

Christie Brigante (OU) def. Katelyn Jackson (TTU) 6-2, 7-6

Jason's Deli Collegiate Invitational

Doubles:

Salazar/Rodgers (SYR) Def. Chumney/Stripp (OU) 8-1

Engbroks/Devine (OU) Def. Newborn/Safdar (SYR) 8-7(1)

Messino/Mitchell (SYR) Def. Pepper/Withrow (OU) 8-5

Singles:

Morgan Chumney (OU) Def. Amanda Rodgers (SYR) 6-3, 6-2

Valeria Salazar (SYR) Def. Zita Engbroks (OU) 6-2, 6-2

Rhiann Newborn (SYR) Def. Malene Stripp (OU) 6-1, 6-3

Komal Safdar (SYR) Def. Emma Devine (OU) 7-5, 6-3

Nicole Mitchell (SYR) Def. Ann Pepper (OU) 6-3, 6-2

For more information from Orlando, visit Seminoles.com or follow @2014_CCI on Twitter.

Players Mentioned

Emma Devine

Zita Engbroks

Abbi Melrose

Lily Miyazaki

Ann Pepper

Malene Stripp

Brooke Withrow

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics