Tennis Heads to MTSU for ITA Ohio Valley Region

// FIRST SERVE
All 10 members of the University of Cincinnati tennis team will be in action Thursday in Murfreesboro, Tenn., as the Bearcats will join with players from 22 other teams to begin play in the 2019 ITA Ohio Valley Region Championships hosted by Middle Tennessee State at the Blue Raiders' Adams Tennis Complex on campus.

// FOLLOW US
Stay connected with UC tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN) all year long.

// QUICK SERVES
• This week's event is the final of four fall events for the Bearcats in 2019
• All 10 players will be in action in both singles and doubles play
• Two individuals (B Draw) and three doubles teams (2 Main, 1 B Draw) are seeded

// THE EVENT
The 2019 ITA Ohio Valley Region Championships is one of 12 regional competitions being contested around the United States this fall with each featuring both singles and doubles. Players in the main draws that reach the finals in singles as well as the doubles champion are invited to compete later in the fall at the 2019 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.

// RESULTS
Results from all matches will posted on GoBearcats.com following the conclusion of play each day. Periodic updates also will be available on the team's Twitter account (@GoBearcatsWTEN).

// SET TO PLAY • SINGLES
All 10 Bearcats will play singles with six in the main draw and four in the B Draw
Main Draw
• Emma Miceli faces Noelle Mauro (MTSU) at 12:30pm Thursday
• Ioana Guna faces Laura Rico (Miami) at 1pm Thursday
• Kelli Niehaus faces Hunter Roper (Xavier) at 1pm Thursday
• Carolina Morton faces Peyton Lee (Belmont) at 1:30pm Thursday
• Maria Santilli faces Love-Star Alexis (MTSU) at 2pm Thursday
• Alexia Coutino faces Rachel Reichenbach (Xavier) at 2:30pm Thursday
B Draw
• Sofia Bruno faces Grace Whitney (Wright State) at 11am Thursday
• Amanda Huser faces Anna Reynolds (Wright State) at 11am Thursday
• #9 Anna Philp faces Mizuka Sakurai (UT Martin) at 11am Thursday
• #4 Caire Koscielski faces winner of Sheldon (BEL)/Albersmeier (UTM) at 3:30pm

// SET TO PLAY • DOUBLES
The Bearcats will have five doubles teams in the competition with four in the main draw:
Main Draw
• Amanda Huser & Anna Philp: play Roggenburk/Roper (Xavier) Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
• Emma Miceli & Caroline Morton: play McKamey/Kubas (Indiana) Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
• Alexia Coutino & Ioana Guna: #9 seed will open in the second round at 5 p.m. Thursday
• Claire Koscielski & Kelli Niehaus: #9 seed will open in the second round at 5 p.m. Thursday
B Draw
• Sophia Bruno & Maria Santilli: #4 seed will open in the second round at 5:30pm Thursday

// LAST TIME • UC/PAM WHITEHEAD
The 2019 University of Cincinnati/Pam Whitehead Invitational came to a close Saturday for the Bearcats' tennis team as UC capped the two-day event at the Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center with a 6-1 singles record to finish with a 14-5 mark. The Bearcats, who competed against players from Bowling Green, Chattanooga and Xavier, finished the event with an 18-10 overall record after going 4-5 in doubles.

// MILESTONE WINS
Over the weekend, two Bearcats posted 2-0 records in singles action to reach milestone victories. Emma Miceli won both of her matches to move to 4-1 on the year while also advancing her career record in singles to 50-15. Similarly, Anna Philp remained undefeated on the season at 5-0 with her two victories to climb to 50-27 all-time in singles play for the Bearcats.

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
The Bearcats will release their spring schedule in the coming weeks.