Tennis Heads to Indiana’s Hoosier Classic

// FIRST SERVE
The University of Cincinnati tennis program is set to return to action this weekend as the Bearcats will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to take part in the Hoosier Classic Friday through Sunday at the IU Tennis Center on Indiana's campus. The 10-team fall event will be the second of the season for the Bearcats after four individuals had a successful outing last week at the Purdue Fall Invitational.

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// QUICK SERVES
• Six Bearcats are set to compete in singles and doubles this weekend with five making their season debuts and one (Alexia Coutino) playing for the second week in a row
• Three of the debutantes are freshmen, including Sofia Bruno, Claire Koscielski and Kelli Niehaus
• The two returners playing for the first time this fall include Emma Miceli and Maria Santilli​​​​​​​
• Cincinnati is one of 10 schools that will be competing at Indiana this week

// THE EVENT
The Hoosier Classic will see 10 teams represented with singles and doubles matches being played. Friday and Saturday will have a similar schedule as two rounds of singles play will start each day at 10 a.m. with one round of doubles play taking place each day at 2:30 p.m. On Sunday, one round of singles play will be the only matches played and will start at 10 a.m. as well.

// AND ON THIS COURT...
Pairings for each day of competition will be posted on Indiana's website (IUHoosiers.com). Check back to GoBearcats.com later Thursday for an update on whom the Bearcats will be paired for Friday's opening action.

// THE COMPETITION
The Bearcats will see competitors from nine other teams this weekend. Along with the host Hoosiers, the remaining teams represented include Bowling Green, Louisville, Marquette, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee State, Western Michigan, Wright State and Xavier.

// RESULTS
Results for this week's meet can be found at IUHoosiers.com with a recap of each day's action also set to be posted on GoBearcats.com following the conclusion of play.

// SET TO PLAY
Of the six Bearcats heading to Bloomington this weekend, one has already competed this fall for UC while five others are set to debut. Along with Coutino, who was 6-2 last weekend at Purdue (4-0 in singles and 2-2 in doubles), returning Bearcats Emma Miceli and Maria Santilli are set to open their fall this weekend while all three of the program's newcomers also will compete for the first time. The freshmen competing include Sofia Bruno, Claire Koscielski and Kelli Niehaus.

// LAST TIME • PURDUE FALL INVITE
The Bearcats had a strong opening weekend at the Purdue Fall Invitational as the four players on hand combined to post a 10-3 record in singles actio and a 5-2 mark in doubles play. Anna Philp led the charge as she was a perfect 6-0 on the weekend, posting a 3-0 record in her draw of singles play while combing with Amanda Huser to go 3-0 in doubles play to win their draw as well. Alexia Coutino also was perfect in singles as she won her draw with a 4-0 record while combining with Ioana Guna to go 2-2 in doubles.

PREVIOUSLY NOTED
// IT'S ACADEMIC
The UC Athletics Department has continued to shine academically with the tennis team being toward the top of the list annually. This past year, the team amassed a cumulative GPA of 3.727 as nine players earned recognition from the league as AAC All-Academic. The team also was honored with the AAC Team Academic Excellence Award which is given annually to the team with the highest GPA in the league in each sport. The tennis program was one of five UC programs to have the highest GPA in their respective sport for the 2018-19 academic year.

// HELLO! MY NAME IS...
The program welcomed a trio of newcomers to the courts this year, including Sofia Bruno (Brolo, Sicily, Italy), Claire Koscielski (Indianapolis/Cathedral HS) and Kelli Niehaus (Cincinnati/Mount Notre Dame HS). Bruno comes to Cincinnati after winning a pair of regional U16 titles in Italy while also playing in the main draw of several Italian championship events. Koscielski won a state doubles title for Cathedral while helping her team to a pair of Indiana crowns while also posting a record of 101-0 in singles competition. Niehaus was a four-time state qualifier in singles in Ohio and was the runner-up in 2018 while also winning the Midwest Closed Level 1 U18 doubles title that year as well. All three will be available to play for UC starting this fall.

// WELCOME!
Another new face to the program comes in the form of Ben Adams, who joined the team as a volunteer coach. Adams brings a wealth of coaching experience as he previously was the head coach of the men's and women's programs at the University of Pikeville for three years. Adams has been on campus already as he currently serves as an adjunct professor in sport administration at UC.

// NEXT TIME OUT
Cincinnati will take one week off from competition before returning to the courts October 11-12 when the Bearcats play host to the UC/Pam Whitehead Invitational on campus at the Trabert/Talbert Tennis Center. The two-day event will feature a hidden-dual format with players from Bowling Green, Chattanooga and Xavier joining the Bearcats. Admission to the event is free.