Oct. 23, 2003

Kentucky freshman Christine Simpson won two qualifying matches Thursday to advance to the main draw of the Omni Hotels/ITA Southeast Regional in Winston Salem, N.C. Competition in the main draw begins Friday morning at Wake Forest University.

Simpson knocked off Beth Flanagan of Tennessee-Chattanooga in her first match by a 6-3, 6-0 count. Simpson went on to defeat Clemson’s Richele Lesaldo, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the main draw where she’ll meet South Carolina’s Laura Ganzer at 8 a.m. Friday. Fellow freshman Caroline Winebrenner won her first qualifier match over Davidson’s Katherine Hatch by a 6-3, 7-5 count, but fell short of the main draw after dropping a 6-3, 6-2 decision to Blakely Offutt of Wake Forest.

Joining Simpson in the main draw are juniors Aibika Kalsarieva and Danielle Petrisko and freshmen Sarah Foster, Lara Maurer and Joelle Schwenk. At 8 a.m. Friday, Kalsarieva is scheduled to meet Kristin Munn of Western Carolina, while Maurer will play Sylwia Ziolkowska of East Tennessee State. Petrisko will battle North Carolina’s Lee Bairos at 9:30 a.m. Foster will take on Laura Swain of UNC-Charlotte at 10:30 a.m. Schwenk is scheduled for competition against North Carolina’s Sara Anundson at 12:30 p.m.

Petrisko and Simpson also advanced in doubles play, defeating the Appalachian State tandem of Becky Gordon and Salem Korvan by an 8-4 count. They’ll meet Kendall Cline and Aniela Mojkis of North Carolina Friday at 10:30 a.m. In addition, the Foster-Kalsarieva and Maurer-Schwenk Kentucky pairs earned first-round byes and will see action Friday. Foster and Kalsarieva take on Saras Arasu and Kristin Cargill of Duke at 3 p.m. while Maurer and Schwenk meet Winthrop’s Renata Caceres and Ana Simanca, also at 3 p.m.

Complete results from the Omni Hotels/ITA Southeast Regional can be found at www.tennisinformation.com.

AGATE:

Singles
Christine Simpson (UK) def. Beth Flanagan (UTC) – 6-3, 6-0Christine Simpson (UK) def. Richele Lesaldo (CU) – 6-3, 6-4Caroline Winebrenner (UK) def. Katherine Hatch (DU) – 6-3, 7-5Blakely Offutt (WF) def. Caroline Winebrenner (UK) – 6-3, 6-2

DoublesPetrisko-Simpson (UK) def. Gordon-Kirven (ASU) – 8-4