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Women's Tennis To Host Inaugural Memphis Collegiate Invitational
Sept. 17, 2009
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis women's tennis team will host the 2009 Memphis Collegiate Invitational from Fri., Sept. 18 to Sun., Sept. 20 at the Memphis University School tennis courts at 6191 Park Avenue in East Memphis. The Lady Tigers will welcome tennis netters from Ole Miss, Samford, Tulane, Tulsa, Georgia State, Belmont, Murray State and UT Martin for the tournament's four doubles draws and eight singles draws. Action will begin on Friday morning with the doubles draws. Singles competition will begin on Fri., Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. "I am excited about the fall tournament," said Memphis head coach Lee Taylor Walker. "I think it is something that we really want to start to have each year. We want it to be one of the best fall tournaments in the country. I am really excited about all the teams we have coming in. We have got a good group of coaches and a good level of players coming in to kick off this annual Memphis Collegiate Invitational. We have a lot of good supporters that have helped make this happen for the first time. I am just excited about creating something we can host every fall." Memphis returns four seniors from a team that won the most matches they have won since the 2003-04 season. Leading the group is Ashley Murdock, a senior from Memphis, Tenn., who has been honored by C-USA as a back-to-back second team selection. The Lady Tigers also return seniors Marjorie Ondeck, Dara Toulch and Amanda Brown to the fold in 2009. Adding their talents to the U of M in 2009 will be freshmen Courtney Collins, Andrea Arques-Garcia and Kelly Gray. Collins, a native of Itawamba, Miss., was ranked as the 46th-best high school tennis player according to tennisrecruiting.net. Collins was also selected the top netter in the state of Mississippi and the 17th-best women's player in the Southeast region. Arques-Garcia, an implant from Alicante, Spain, comes to the Tigers after being rated No. 90 among all women's tennis players in Spain last season. Gray, a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., was ranked as the No. 41 player in the Southeast Region coming our of Siegel High School.
"The first tournament is always tricky," Walker said. "It does help us to be able to have it in our home town. To be able to play in your own city in a familiar environment, helps to get the feat wet for a new year. Practices have looked really good and I am just anxious to get out there to watch the girls play." Among the teams competing in the tournament this weekend, three team (Ole Miss, Georgia State and Tulsa) were ranked among the Top-50 in the nation according to the final CollegeTennisOnline.com poll. The matches are scheduled to be played at Memphis University School, but if anything should change due to inclimate weather please check gotigersgo.com for updates on site changes.
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Memphis Tigers
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