DePaul University Athletics
Women's Tennis Begins Fall Season
9/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
Sept. 27, 2011
Wildcat Doubles Draws 
|Wildcat Singles
Nielson Tennis Center
CHICAGO - The DePaul women's tennis team serves up its 2011-12 season this weekend at Northwestern's Wildcat Invitational which will be played at the Nielson Tennis Center in Winnetka due to the construction of the Wildcats' courts in Evanston.
The Blue Demons are slated to square off with student-athletes from Illinois, Western Michigan, UIC, Oklahoma, Michigan State, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Minnesota and host Northwestern during the three-day invitational, Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
"It will be great to get on the court this weekend and get some matches in," head women's tennis coach Mark Ardizzone said. "The women have been working really hard and I think they are looking forward to seeing someone different across the net. We need to get our freshmen experience and with this top-level type of competition, they certainly will get that right away."
Of the 10 school's participating in this weekend's tournament -- UIC, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Northwestern all participated in the 2011 NCAA Team Championship. The field also includes eight singles players who are ranked in the Campbell's/ITA preseason top 115, while six doubles pairs are ranked in the top 60.
South Carolina's Anya Morgina is the top ranked singles player in the field as the senior comes into the invitational ranked No. 30. On the doubles side, the Northwestern tandem of Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton are ranked No. 3 while the Michigan State pair of Amy Barton and Marina Bohrer sit in the No. 23 position.
The Blue Demons return three standouts -- Gia McKnight, Cali Gustafson, Kelsey Lawson from last season's roster which saw DePaul reach the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship for the third consecutive year. Lawson led the Blue Demons with a 27-15 singles record, while McKnight posted a 21-19 slate. On the doubles side, McKnight and Lawson teamed up for a 4-2 record in DePaul's final six matches of last season.
Three newcomers -- Carolin Neumann, Patricia Fargas Osorio and Rebeca Mitrea highlight the Blue Demons new-look roster. Neumann was ranked as high as No. 107 in the women's national rankings in Germany while Fargas Osorio was regarded as one of the top 50 players in Spain. Mitrea rounds out the group and has three Romanian National tournaments under her belt.
Following the Wildcat Invitational, the Blue Demons head to Houston for the Rice Invitational, Oct. 7-9.
Players Mentioned
