Oct. 5, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The top-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores will be well represented at the 2015 ITA/Riviera All-American Women’s Championships as Frances Altick, Sydney Campbell and Courtney Colton have been selected to compete at this prestigious event in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Hosted by Pepperdine University, the 2015 Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships is the second national championship tournament of the 2015-16 season. Singles and doubles finals are scheduled for Oct. 11th.
Having won two doubles championships at All-American’s in as many years this event is close to the heart of associate head coach Aleke Tsoubanos. Tsoubanos and volunteer assistant coach Kieran Burke look forward to coaching the ‘Dores throughout this tournament, which showcases the country’s top talent in collegiate tennis.
No. 49 Frances Altick and No. 34 Courtney Colton will begin competing in singles qualifiers on Tuesday, Oct. 6th. As two of the 64 student-athletes selected to compete in qualifying rounds, Altick and ninth-seeded Colton have challenging matches ahead as only 16 qualifiers advance to compete in main draw action.
In the opening round, NCAA and SEC All-Tournament team member Altick squares-off against Purdue’s No. 114 Tess Bernard-Feigenbaum, a senior who went 9-1 last fall and 29-5 overall. Altick looks to make up for lost time at this season’s tournament, as the Monroe, La. native was selected for main draw play last season but could not attend due to an ailing injury.
Colton, who was selected to play qualifying singles as well as main draw doubles, faces Denver’s Maureen Slattery as her opening opponent. Slattery went 10-10 in singles for the Pioneers last season, one year after begin named the 2014 Division I Women’s Tennis Rookie of the Year. This is Colton’s third appearance in a row at the Riviera/ITA All-Americans, having fallen in the third round of singles qualifiers last season.
Franklin, Tenn. native, Campbell will travel cross-country to join the Commodore contingent Wednesday, as the seventh-ranked singles player in the nation begins main draw doubles and singles action on Thursday, Oct. 8th. Last season Campbell fought her way all the through qualifiers to main draw singles action, falling in the first-round.
Singles quarterfinalists, doubles finalists and consolation champions will receive an automatic entry into the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Nov. 12-15, held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Format: No-ad, best two-out-of-three sets in singles for all draws. No-ad, best two-out-of-three sets with a Match Tiebreak in lieu of the third set in all doubles draws.