NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion University women’s tennis team will play host to the 2014 Conference USA Championships to be held April 16-20 at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center. From Wednesday, April 16 to Friday, April 18, two sessions will take place at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. respectively, while Saturday’s lone Semifinal Round will occur at 12 p.m. and Sunday’s concluding Championship Round will be held at 10 a.m.
Weather permitting, all of the action is expected to be held outdoors. Admission to the 2014 C-USA Women’s Tennis Championships is FREE.
The 2014 Conference USA Women’s Tennis Championships will mark the first ever C-USA Tournament the Old Dominion University has ever hosted.
This year’s event promises to be an exciting one, as three nationally ranked programs highlight the field of 16 teams. Tulsa enters the Championships as the 20th ranked squad in the country, Rice is ranked 21st and North Texas holds a nationally ranking of No. 67. As it continues to prove its competitiveness at the national level, three C-USA teams earned outright bids for the NCAA Tournament in 2013.
The 2013-2014 Old Dominion Tennis Lady Monarchs
The Lady Monarchs are coming off a dominate win over Georgetown by a score of 4-2 this past Friday. ODU is 11-6 overall, and sport a 9-3 record at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center this season.
The Lady Monarchs are led by their No. 1 singles player, sophomore Nikol Hristova. The defending Conference Player of the Week is 12-4 on the season and has won six matches in a row. This was the first Conference USA award received by an Old Dominion female tennis player in the schools history. Her doubles partner Olguin, is 10-4 on the season in singles, and together they are 9-2 for doubles. Hristova and Esnal Olguin have not dropped a match since March 9th, which was against No. 46 South Florida.
Freshman Ingrid Vojcinakova is 11-5 and has competed in the No. 2 singles spot steadily the whole season. Marijana Novakovic, also a true freshman, has been solid at the No. 3 position posting a record of 7-5 in that spot. Vojcinakova and Novakovic also possess an 8-4 record in doubles.
Nika Khmolovska has won three of her last four matches to improve to 8-6 on the season.
Ivana Vukovic performed brilliantly for ODU against Georgetown at the No. 4 spot, winning her first set in tiebreaking fashion and then sealing the victory with a 6-3 second set win.
COMPETING TEAMS
No. 1 Seed Tulsa (15-4)
-Ranked No. 20 in the country
-Klara Vyskocilova Ranked No. 52 in the nation
-Samantha Vickers Ranked No. 88 in the country
No. 2 Seed Rice (14-6)
-Ranked No. 21 nationally
-Katherine Ip Ranked No. 82 in the country
-Natalie Beazant Nationally ranked No. 103
-Natalie Beazant and Liat Zimmermann are ranked No. 48 nationally in doubles
-Dominique Harmath Ranked No. 109 nationally
No. 3 Seed North Texas (10-10)
-Nationally ranked No. 67
No. 4 Seed Marshall (13-7)
No. 5 Seed Louisiana Tech (14-6)
No. 6 Seed FIU (11-6)
No. 7 Seed Old Dominion (12-6)
No. 8 Seed UTSA (11-10)
No. 9 Seed Middle Tennessee (10-9)
No. 10 Seed East Carolina (12-10)
No. 11 Seed Southern Miss (10-12)
No. 12 Seed UAB (8-14)
No. 13 Seed UTEP (11-12)
No. 14 Seed Charlotte (7-12)
No. 15 Seed Tulane (4-19)
No. 16 Seed Florida Atlantic (3-10)
The Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center
Located at 4501 Parker Avenue, the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center is a 74,000 square foot facility fully-equipped with 12 beautiful outdoor courts eight state-of-the-art indoor courts and spacious locker rooms. All courts at Folkes-Stevens are hard surface with classic US Open Blue and Green color patterns. The front and middle mezzanine serve as spectator viewing space where our visitors can enjoy comfortable seats, flat screen TVs and vending machines.
Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center Phone No.: 757-683-5312
Parking
Parking for parents and general fan base will be in Lot 43, which resides just across Powhatan Avenue from the outdoor courts. For this event, parking in front of the tennis center is reserved for staff and officials only.
Concessions
Concessions will be provided on Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. by Aramark. Additionally, the POD convenient store located on the opposite side of the Student Rec Center from the tennis courts will be open throughout the event.
The CVB will provide a mobile visitor center on site for information and directions to local attractions and amenities Norfolk has to provide: http://www.visitnorfolktoday.com/visitor-center
2014 Conference USA Women’s Tennis Championship Central Page
Directions to Old Dominion's Athletic Facilities
From the North/West:
Take 95 South
Take 64 East to Terminal Blvd. exit
Take a left off of Terminal Blvd onto Hampton Blvd.
Proceed South on Hampton Blvd.
The Old Dominion Campus will be on your right.
Take a right on either 49th street or 43rd street and follow the signs to specific athletic venues.
From the South or East:
Take 64 West to 264 to downtown Waterside Drive exit
Take a left on Brambleton Ave.
Bear off to your right on Hampton Blvd.
The Old Dominion Campus will be on your left.
Take a left on either 49th street or 43rd street and follow the signs to specific athletic venues.
Championship Format
The format will be a five day single elimination tournament featuring all 16 teams, with the top four seeds receiving a double bye and seeds 5 through 8 receiving a first round bye. Matches shall consist of six singles and three doubles. Doubles should be played first, followed by singles. Singles matches are two out of three sets, while doubles are an eight game pro-set. The winner of the single elimination tournament gains the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Championship Awards
The first and second place team will receive trophies and the first place teams will receive individual awards. Following the Championship and along with the All-Conference Awards, coaches shall vote upon Outstanding Singles Player and Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship.