Aggie sophomore Anna Mamalat and freshmen Jana McCord and Mason Strickland will join representatives from seven other universities at the three-day tournament, which begins Friday on the indoor courts at the Tualatan Hills Tennis Center.
Other teams participating are Duke, Michigan, Nebraska, Portland, Texas, UCLA and Utah. In addition, eight of the top USTA juniors will be competing, including Peggy Porter who was the Clay Court Invitational last week in Orlando, Fla.
Mamalat and McCord will compete together in the 16-team doubles draw and will open against Porter and Terri Fleming, Friday at 9 a.m. (PT). Strickland will join forces with Marianne Jodoin of Duke to take on No. 3 ranked Brooke Bolender and Emina Bektas of Michigan also at 9 a.m.
Doubles quarterfinal matches will be played Friday at 3 p.m., and semifinals and the championship match will be contested Saturday at 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Unlike the doubles bracket format, the unique singles setup with consist of eight pools with four players each – three collegiate players and one junior player. The winner of each pool will participate in the adidas Shootout, and the overall winner receives a wildcard entry into a USTA Pro Circuit event in 2014.
Strickland opens singles play against 24th-ranked Hanna Mar of Duke, Friday at 10:30 a.m. (PT). Others in her pool are Courtney Dolehide of UCLA and junior player Ena Shibahara.
McCord faces Porter at 1 p.m. Friday in her first match of pool play. Catherine Harrison of UCLA and Jodoin round out the pool.
Mamalat, No. 108 in the ITA preseason singles rankings, faces No. 62 Tereza Bekerova of Utah also at 1 p.m. Texas' Elizabeth Begley, ranked 124th, and Riley McQuaid of the USTA also are in the pool.
Singles play continues Saturday with matches beginning at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Action gets underway at 8 a.m. on Sunday, with the shootout scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m.
Alhtough Aggie teammates Cristina Stancu and Stefania Hristov conclude A&M's fall season next week as they compete in the USTA ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y., the USTA Collegiate Invitational is the final scheduled event for Mamalat, McCord and Strickland until January.
Follow @TennisTourny on Twitter for updates to the USTA Collegiate Invitational and go to the tournament website, www.collegiateinvite.com/ for complete results.
Visit AggieAthletics.com for more information on Texas A&M women's tennis. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M women's tennis team on Twitter by following @AggieWTEN or on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/Aggie-Womens-Tennis/143874782434654
2013 USTA Collegiate Invitational Presented by adidas
(all times are Pacific)
Friday – November 1, 2013
9:00 a.m. – Doubles
Bolender-Bektas (Michigan) v. Strickland/Jodoin (Texas A&M/Duke)
Mamalat-McCord (Texas A&M) v. Fleming-Porter (USTA)
10:30 a.m. – Singles
H. Mar (Duke) v. M. Strickland (Texas A&M)
1:00 p.m. – Singles
J. McCord (Texas A&M) v. P. Porter (USTA)
A. Mamalat (Texas A&M) v. T. Bekerova (Utah)
3:00 p.m. – Doubles
Quarterfinals Main Draw & Consolation Draw
Saturday – November 2, 2013
9:00 a.m. – Doubles – ALL PARTICIPANTS
Semifinals Main Draw & Consolation Draw
TBD Based Upon Results from Friday, November 1, 2013
10:30 a.m. – Singles
Group E
J. McCord (Texas A&M) v. C. Harrison (UCLA)
P. Porter (USTA) v. M. Jodoin (Duke)
Group H
A. Mamalat (Texas A&M) v. R. McQuaid (USTA)
T. Bekerova (Utah) v. E. Begley (Texas)
1:00 p.m. – Singles
Group B
H. Mar (Duke) v. C. Dolehide (UCLA)
M. Strickland (Texas A&M) v. E. Shibahara (USTA)
3:00 p.m. – DOUBLES FINAL
Sunday – November 3, 2013
Singles (8 or 10 a.m.)
Group B
H. Mar (Duke) v. E. Shibahara (USTA)
C. Dolehide (UCLA) v. M. Strickland (Texas A&M)
Group E
J. McCord (Texas A&M) v. M. Jodoin (Duke)
C. Harrison (UCLA) v. P. Porter (USTA)
Group H
A. Mamalat (Texas A&M) v. E. Begley (Texas)
R. McQuaid (USTA) v. T. Bekerova (Utah)
USTA WILDCARD SHOOT-OUT BEGINS AT 12:15 P.M. ON SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3