Oct. 9, 2002

Pacific Palisades, Calif. – Senior Sarah Witten and her doubles partner Nathalie Roels advanced to the main draw in doubles competition at the ITA/Riviera All-American tournament in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The main draw is made up of 32 teams, which are arguably the best doubles teams in the nation.

Witten and Roels advanced to the main draw by beating three of the nation’s highest ranked teams. In the first round of qualifying they beat the No. 17 team of Marine Piriou and Jessica Rush of Northwestern, 8-3. In Wednesday’s second round they defeated Wasington State’s Lorena Arias and Chris Martinez, 8-1. Arias and Martinez are ranked 46th in the country. Their biggest victory came in the third round when they beat the country’s No. 6 team. California’s Raquel Kops-Jones and Christina Fusano were no match for the Witten/Roels tandem as they fell by a score of 8-3. Play in the main draw will begin on Thursday.

In singles action, senior Amy Trefethen advanced to the final round of the consolation bracket by beating Harvard’s Iva Wang, 6-2, 6-2. Wang then went on to defeat UK’s Nathalie Roels, 6-4, 6-0, in their consolation match. Trefethen will play her final match on Thursday.

First-Round Doubles Qualifying

Witten/Roels def. No. 17 Piriou/Rush (NW), 8-3C. Steinbock/K. Steinbock (KU) def. Trefethen/Buckley, 9-8

Second-Round Doubles Qualifying

Witten/Roels def. No. 46 Arias/Martinez (WSU), 8-1

Third-Round Doubles Qualifying

Witten/Roels def. No. 6 Kops-Jones/Fusano (Cal), 8-3

Doubles Main Draw: Play begins Thursday, Oct. 10