Women’s Tennis Opens A-10 Championship Play Thursday Morning
A-10 Women's Tennis Bracket (PDF)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 12th-seeded St. Bonaventure women's tennis team opens play at the Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Tennis Championship on Thursday morning at 9 against 5th-seeded Xavier at the Boar's Head Sports Club.
With a win against the Musketeers, Bonaventure will advance to face the winner of No. 4 Temple vs. No. 13 Dayton on Friday morning at 10.
The Bonnies head into the championship with an 11-8 overall record, led by freshman Fatya Amiri. The California native paced SBU with 27 wins (27-11) on the campaign – a majority of them coming out of the No. 2 singles position – and was named the A-10 Performer of the Week once.
Senior Manuela Marin Salcedo followed closely behind Amiri with a 23-15 overall mark between her singles and doubles action. Marin Salcedo bounced around between the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 positions for early portions of the season before finally solidifying her position as the team's No. 1 singles player Feb. 24.
Bonaventure was dealt a tough blow in its regular-season finale and will compete at A-10s without half of its No. 1 doubles team. Junior Amanda Pallikunnel tore her ACL midway through her No. 4 singles match April 11 against Niagara.
Pallikunnel posted 19 wins on the season, with all nine of her doubles victories coming at the No. 1 position, primarily with partner Marissa Brossard. Freshman Brossard posted 20 wins of her own (20-14), while junior Kathryn Kvas went 19-19, sophomore Andrea Pavlovic went 14-18 and junior Riley Archer concluded the year 5-6.
Massachusetts earned the top seed in the tournament, with Charlotte checking in at No. 2. Competition begins on Thursday at 9:00 a.m., with the final match of the first round slated to start at 3:00 p.m. The top two seeds will receive a first-round bye and begin play in the quarterfinals on Friday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., respectively. Semifinal action commences on Saturday, April 21 at 10:00 a.m., while the championship finale is set for Sunday, April 22 at 10:00 a.m.
The A-10 Women's Tennis Championship now features a four-day, single-elimination format. The winner of the Championship will receive the Conference's automatic bid to compete in the NCAA Tournament. For more information on the Championship, including match results, recaps and photos, visit the league's online home – atlantic10.com.
2012 Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Tennis Championship Seeds
1. Massachusetts
2. Charlotte
3. Richmond
4. Temple
5. Xavier
6. George Washington
7. Fordham
8. Rhode Island
9. Duquesne
10. Saint Louis
11. Saint Joseph's
12. St. Bonaventure
13. Dayton
14. La Sall
