Women's Tennis to Play in USTA/ITA Regional Championships

By Sara Elcano, Assistant Athletics Communications Director

WALLA WALLA, WASH. -- The Willamette University women's tennis team will participate in the USTA/ITA Small College Northwest Regional championships at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. on Sept. 25-27. Willamette's Natalia Agarycheva (Sr., Vancouver, WA/Univ. of Northern Colo.) is the #1 seed in the singles bracket.

Agarycheva will face Sarah Palmer from Pacific University on Sept. 25 at 8 a.m. (PDT) in the first round of play. Agarycheva finished second last season in the same tournament.

The Bearcats will have two other seniors participating in the tournament. Jamie Slonaker (Bainbridge Island, WA/Bainbridge HS) and Brooke Sessums (Stayton, OR/Stayton HS) will represent WU.

Emily Bee (Jr., Portland, OR/Lincoln HS) and Fabi Dieguez (Jr., Salem, OR/Sprague HS) are the two competing juniors for the Bearcats.

Katie Huber (So., Salem, OR/South Salem HS) is the lone sophomore who will be in action.

Lindsay Michaelson (Fr., Wahiawa, HI/Leilehua HS), Emily Funabiki (Fr., Pullman, WA/Pullman HS) and Sabrina Gutierrez (Fr., Newbury Park, CA/Newbury Park HS) will each see their first collegiate action this weekend.

In doubles action, Willamette's pair of Agarycheva and Dieguez enters play seeded #5. The Bearcats have two other doubles entries, Bee and Huber and Michaelson and Slonaker.

More than 60 NCAA Division III tennis players representing all nine Northwest Conference schools will participate in the tournament. The tournament is one of the eight Division III women's tennis regionals taking place around the country.

Winners of the 64-player singles bracket and 32-team doubles bracket advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, slated for Oct. 14-17 in Mobile, Ala.

Competition on Saturday at Whitman gets underway at 8 a.m. with the first round of singles. Matches are set for both the Bratton Tennis Center and the four outdoor campus courts.