Oct. 4, 2010
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M's Nazari Urbina (pronounced nah-ZAR-ee ur-BEE-nah) and Morgan Frank will begin competition in the prestigious Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships this week at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Urbina, a sophomore from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, opens the qualifying round of singles play on Tuesday. She will team with Frank, a senior from Oldsmar, Fla., in the main draw of doubles beginning Thursday.
"The women's All-American uses a very selective process, which makes it very difficult to get into the tournament, so this is a great reward for both Nazari and Morgan to be able to participate," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "The qualifying and main draws are equivalent to the NCAA Championship level, and it is an honor to be in this tournament."
Urbina is scheduled to face South Florida's Ecaterina Vasenina, a "lucky loser" from the singles prequalifying round, in the first round of qualifying singles at 2:30 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday. Urbina defeated Vasenina, 6-2, 6-2, during the 2009 regular season in Tampa.
This will be the first collegiate tournament of the fall season for both Urbina and Frank, although Urbina is coming off a championship title at the ITF $10,000 Mazatlan in Mazatlan, Mexico on September 26.
"Nazari is coming off a great performance in Mazatlan, and Morgan is ready and excited to finally compete," Kleinecke said. "And for them to be playing together in the main draw in doubles is such a great opportunity for them.
"It is very tough just to get in, so every opponent is going to be tough, and you have to be ready to play at your highest level starting with your first match."
Urbina is No. 33 in the ITA preseason rankings released Sept. 10 and she is ranked 45th with Frank in doubles.
Frank is No. 71 in the national singles rankings. She was an alternate in the qualifying singles bracket but did not get in.
The rest of the Aggie squad continues to train for the ITA Texas Regional, to be played at Baylor in Waco, Oct. 22-26.
For more information on the Riviera/ITA Championships and for live scoring links, go to http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITANationalChampionships/WomensAllAmerican.htm