Sept. 27, 2003

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga.

The University of Tennessee women's tennis team posted a strong day of doubles competition at the adidas Collegiate Invitational on Saturday. The Tennessee pair of senior Tammy Encina and junior Majen Immink, seeded second and rated 14th in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, advanced to the doubles semifinals where they will face No. 17 Alexis Gordon and Julie Rotondi of Florida on Sunday. Additionally, the Lady Vol duos of freshman Blakeley Griffith and sophomore Sabita Maharaj along with freshman Victoria Jones and junior Ashley Robards each won their respective matches to advance to the doubles consolation final.

Jones and Robards edged out Christina Gogol and Kelly Taylor of Louisville 9-7 in the consolation semifinals. Griffith and Maharaj, meanwhile, defeated teammates Erin Cohn and Claudia Farace 8-2 in the other consolation semifinal. The two Tennessee tandems will now meet on Sunday in the consolation title match.

In the top draw of singles, senior Tammy Encina's strong run came to an end in the quarterfinals. Encina, seeded sixth and ranked 27th by the ITA, dropped a 6-3, 7-6 decision to the fourth seed, No. 21 Julie Rotondi of Florida. Maharaj, meanwhile, downed Notre Dame's Christian Thompson 6-1, 6-2 in the consolation bracket second round, but was upended 7-6, 6-1 by No. 42 Jessica Rush of Northwestern in the consolation quarterfinals.

In the second draw of singles, Griffith suffered the initial loss of her collegiate career when she fell to Northwestern's Alexis Prousis 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. Griffith had won her first five matches as a collegian, including two at the current tournament. Jones, meanwhile, took out Louisville's Julia Hierl 6-3, 7-6(5) in the consolation second round, before falling to Wisconsin's Nicole Beck 6-1, 6-2 in the consolation quarterfinals. Kray also won her match in the consolation second round, 6-0, 6-2, over Paige Eber of Louisville, but then fell to TCU's Paige Brown 7-5, 6-2 in the consolation quarterfinals.

UT First Singles Draw Results for Sat., Sept. 27
#21 Julie Rotondi (Florida) def. #27 Tammy Encina (UT) 6-3, 7-6 (quarterfinals)
Sabita Maharaj (UT) def. Christian Thompson (Notre Dame) 6-1, 6-2 (consolation second round)
Saber Pierce (TCU) def. Ashley Robards (UT) 6-2, 6-4 (consolation second round)
#42 Jessica Rush (Northwestern) def. Sabita Maharaj (UT) 7-6, 6-1 (consolation quarterfinals)

UT Second Singles Draw Results for Sat., Sept. 27
Alexis Prousis (Northwestern) def. Blakeley Griffith (UT) 6-2, 6-2 (quarterfinals)
Nicole Beck (Wisconsin) def. Claudia Farace (UT) 6-1, 6-1 (consolation second round)
Victoria Jones (UT) def. Julia Hierl (Louisville) 6-3, 7-6(5) (consolation second round)
Breanna Kray (UT) def. Paige Eber (Louisville) 6-0, 6-2 (consolation second round)
Nicole Beck (Wisconsin) def. Victoria Jones (UT) 6-1, 6-2 (consolation quarterfinals)
Paige Brown (TCU) def. Breanna Kray (UT) 7-5, 6-2 (consolation quarterfinals)

UT Doubles Results for Sat., Sept. 27
Encina/Immink (UT) def. Jamie Peisel/Jessica Rush (Northwestern) (quarterfinals)
Griffith/Maharaj (UT) def. Cohn/Farace (UT) 8-2 (consolation semifinals)
Jones/Robards (UT) def. Christina Gogol/Kelly Taylor (Louisville) 9-7 (consolation semifinals)