Oct. 23, 2001

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Kansas State tennis team continues its fall season this week when it travels to The Omni Hotels Regional Championships at the Tulsa Southern Tennis Club, Oct. 25-28, in Tulsa, Okla.

"Even though no team scores are kept, this will be a measure of where we are," Kansas State head tennis coach Steve Bietau said. "I'm interested in seeing what kind of progress we have made since Georgia (Bulldog Fall Invitational)."

Qualifying gets under way Wednesday, Oct. 24. Sophomores Hayley McIver and Paulina Castillejos were both seeded in the 32-player qualifying round. McIver is seeded No. 3, while Castillejos is seeded No. 7. McIver enters the tournament with a 3-1 fall record, while Castillejos is 1-3. Both Wildcats must win two rounds to advance to the main draw that begins Thursday, Oct. 25.

In the 64-player main singles draw, senior Alena Jecminkova is seeded No. 1, while junior Petra Sedlmajerova is seeded No. 5 and freshman Maria Rosenberg is the No. 9 seed. Each player has one round of singles on Thursday. Senior Kathy Chuda is also entered in the singles draw. Jecminkova and Sedlmajerova each have 1-4 fall records, while Rosenberg is 4-0 and Chuda 1-3.

The tournament also has a 48-team doubles draw. Jecminkova and freshman Andrea Cooper are seeded No. 5, Chuda and Rosenberg No. 14 and McIver and Castillejos round out the doubles teams for the Wildcats. Jecminkova's and Cooper's fall doubles record is 1-4 and McIver's and Castillejos' is 0-2. Chuda and Rosenberg will partner for the first time this season.

The singles finalists and doubles champions from this week's championship advance to the 2001 Omni Hotels National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, held Nov. 8-11 at the Brookhaven Country Club located just outside Dallas in Farmers Branch, Texas. This event, which had been played in February, is the second of three national collegiate tennis championships during the 2000-2001 season (for singles and doubles). The first, the Riviera Women's and ITA Men's All-American Championships, and the third are the year-end NCAA Championships.

Opening-Round Draws

Qualifying Draw

No. 3 Hayley McIver, KSU vs. Erin Pauchnik, Oklahoma State

No. 7 Paulina Castillejos, KSU vs. Ashley Bille, Northern Arizona

Main Draw

No. 1 Alena Jecminkova, KSU vs. Dominique Reynolds, BYU No. 5 Petra Sedlmajerova, KSU vs. qualifying opponent

No. 9 Maria Rosenberg, KSU vs. qualifying opponent

Kathy Chuda, KSU vs. No. 14 Cheryl Mallaiah, Kansas

Doubles

No. 5 Alena Jecminkova/Andrea Cooper, KSU vs. No. 7 Katia Sevcikova/Urska Juric, Missouri

No. 14 Kathy Chuda/Maria Rosenberg, KSU vs. received bye

Hayley McIver/Paulina Castillejos, KSU vs. Irini Kotoglou/Linn Ronnerg, Utah