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Sept. 30, 2011

WHAT: Texas resumes the 2011 fall tournament season with the ITA All-American Championships, one of three national championship events on the college tennis calendar. 

WHEN:  Saturday, Oct. 1 through Sunday, Oct. 9

WHERE:  Riviera Tennis Club – Pacific Palisades, Calif.; matches on Oct. 1 and 2 will be contested at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. 

TOURNAMENT WEB SITE (including draws and times):
http://www.itatennis.com/Events/ITANationalChampionships/WomensAllAmerican.htm

PRE-QUALIFYING ROUND SCHEDULE
Singles
Saturday, Oct. 1
Krista Damico (Texas) vs. Katie Le (Santa Clara) – 11:45 a.m. Central
Noel Scott (Texas) vs. Hanna Mar (Duke) – 1:30 p.m. Central
Doubles
Sunday, Oct. 2
Cierra Gaytan-Leach/Noel Scott (Texas) vs. Arshavskaya/Arshavskaya (Columbia) or Collins/Gray (Memphis) – 10 a.m. Central
Krista Damico/Aeriel Ellis (Texas) vs. Jones/Rohde-Moe (Ole Miss) – 10 a.m. Central

Junior Aeriel Ellis has earned a berth in the main singles draw, which will get underway on Thursday, Oct. 6.  Ellis has qualified for all seven national championship events contested during her collegiate career.   

PRE-TOURNAMENT COMMENTS
Texas head coach Patty Fendick-McCain
On the ITA All-American Championships
“This is a really good opportunity for our players to get wins on the national stage.  Noel Scott will play in the pre-qualifying singles draw after getting off to a very good start.  She won three matches last weekend and three the weekend before.  Now, she will be exposed to an even higher level of competition, and that is great for her.  It’s a great opportunity for Cierra Gaytan-Leach and Noel to do some damage in the doubles draw.  Krista Damico and Aeriel Ellis make up a solid doubles team, and they have a chance to get through to the main draw." 

On Aeriel Ellis competing in the singles draw at a seventh consecutive national championship event
“We talk about paying attention to the little things and letting them add up.  Aeriel has done a good job of that, of taking care of things day-to-day.  We’re starting to see benefits of hard work and attention to detail.” 

ITA PRESEASON SINGLES RANKINGS
14. Aeriel Ellis

LAST TIME OUT:  Sophomore Cierra Gaytan-Leach and freshman Noel Scott won the doubles draw last weekend at the Longhorn Invitational.  Gaytan-Leach also reached the finals in the singles draw. 

THE 2011-12 LONGHORNS:  Texas returns four regular singles starters from the 2010-11 squad that reached the finals of the Big 12 Championship and the round of 32 at the NCAA Championships.

The Horns are led by junior Aeriel Ellis, who last season became UT’s first ITA All-American since 1999.  The Californian has qualified to compete in all six of the previous national championship events contested during her two seasons as a Longhorn.  She reached the round of 16 of the singles draw at the 2011 NCAA Championships. 

Senior Krista Damico totaled a 21-16 overall singles record last season while playing primarily at No. 2 singles.  UT returns a pair of talented sophomores who saw significant time in the dual-match lineup last season.  Juliana Gajic totaled a 13-6 dual-match record, primarily at No. 5 singles, and Cierra Gaytan-Leach totaled a 9-3 dual-match record.