TEMPE, Ariz. Kansas State’s Paulina Castillejos and Maria Rosenberg upset the top-seeded doubles team on day two of the 2003 ASU Thunderbird Invitational held Saturday at the Whiteman Tennis Center.

Since the Wildcats first started playing in the Arizona State hosted tournament a couple of years ago, no doubles team had ever advanced past the second round of play. Castillejos and Rosenberg used an 8-4 rally to down preseason No. 46-ranked Julia Smith and Jennifer Zika of Duke to become the first to do so. They will meet third-seeded Nicole Havlicek and Jody Scheldt of California tomorrow in the main draw semifinals for the right to move on to the championship match.

“We had a pretty good day overall and definitely had a lot of good play across the board,” Head Coach Steve Bietau said. “It was a great win for the doubles team over a nationally-ranked opponent, which is only going to build more confidence for them. Paulina has played exceptionally well in singles and doubles throughout the tournament and we look forward to tomorrow’s semifinals.”

In consolation singles action, junior Judith Diaz and senior Hayley McIver both fell to preseason No. 76-ranked Tracie Chong of Rice, 6-0, 6-3. Rosenberg dropped a three-setter to Purdue’s Alyssa Rodriguez, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, while Castillejos lost in two to UNLV’s Anne Claire Ortiz Luis, 6-0, 7-5. Ten opponents in the tournament were ranked in the preseason top 100 in singles and seven in the preseason top 50 in doubles.

The main and consolation draws of singles will begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. (PT) followed by the doubles finals.

2003 ASU Thunderbird Invitational
Nov. 7-9, 2003
at Tempe, Ariz.

SINGLES
Consolation Quarterfinal Round
Alyssa Rodriguez (Purdue) def. Maria Rosenberg (Kansas State), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Quarterfinal Round (First Round Consolation Losers)
(76) Tracie Chong (Rice) def. Judith Diaz (Kansas State), 6-0, 6-3.
Semifinal Round (First Round Main/Consolation Losers)
(76) Tracie Chong (Rice) def. Hayley McIver (Kansas State), 6-0, 6-3.
Quarterfinal Round (Second Round Main Draw Losers)
Anne Claire Ortiz Luis (UNLV) def. Paulina Castillejos (Kansas State), 6-0, 7-5.

DOUBLES
Main Draw Second Round
Castillejos/Rosenberg (Kansas State) def. (46) Smith/Zika (Duke), 8-4.
Consolation Quarterfinal Round
(37) Burgarello/Rodriguez (Purdue) def. Diaz/McIver (Kansas State), 8-3.