Sooners head to stillwater for ITA Regionals

NORMAN, Okla. – The Oklahoma women's tennis team travels to Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., for the ITA Central Region Championships, Oct. 15-19.

Last year, the Sooners had six players advance to Sunday, with the now graduated Abbi Melrose advancing to the main draw singles quarterfinals.

Sophomore Lily Miyazaki was 5-1 going into last year's ITA regional championship and is 1-1 this season after competing at the Rivera/ITA All-America Championships two weeks ago. She will play in the main draw of singles, as well as doubles with fellow sophomore Simran Sethi this weekend.

Sethi did not play in last year's regional tournament. She enters play with a 3-5 record in singles play this fall.

Sophomores Malene Stripp and Brooke Winthrow, along with junior Ann Pepper and senior Emma Devine will also make the trip to Stillwater.

Head coach Dave Mullins knows where Oklahoma's strength lies.

“I think the doubles event is wide open and there are number of doubles teams capable of winning the event,” he said. “I believe we are capable of being one of those teams in the mix for the title.”

The Sooners are 10-6 in doubles play. Pepper and Stripp were runners-up in the Red doubles draw at the season-opening OU Invite. Pepper will be paired with Winthrow while Stripp will team with Devine.

“We are looking forward to playing a lot of singles and doubles matches and continuing to build upon some recent performances. A lot depends on the draw, but it would be great to see a couple of players go deep in the tournament and still be playing on Sunday and Monday,” Mullins said.

Play begins Thursday at 9 a.m. with the qualifying round of singles at the Greenwood Tennis Center.

Follow these links for live scoring:

Indoor courts: http://www.okstate.com/news/2015/10/14/WTEN_1014155400.aspx

North outdoor courts: http://www.okstate.com/news/2015/10/14/WTEN_1014155134.aspx?path=wten

South outdoor courts: http://www.okstate.com/news/2015/10/14/WTEN_1014154332.aspx?path=wten