Women's Tennis Opens Dual Schedule at Iowa with Hawkeyes, North Texas

Women's Tennis Opens Dual Schedule at Iowa with Hawkeyes, North Texas

01.16.19 | Women's Tennis

Musketeers play Iowa on Friday at 5 PM, return to court Saturday at 9 AM to face Mean Green

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier women's tennis opens up its dual schedule on Friday, January 18, when the Musketeers travel to Iowa City, Iowa to face the Hawkeyes at 5:00 p.m. Xavier will remain at Iowa to face North Texas in the second dual of the season on Saturday, January 19, at 9:00 a.m.

"We are all excited to get started this weekend," said head coach Doug Matthews. "This will be a big test for us right off the bat. Iowa and North Texas are very good teams with a lot of talent. Our team has great leadership, depth, as well as contributors from every class. The keys this weekend are showing a lot of toughness and being ready for a very physical weekend."

THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier's roster is deep and balanced, featuring a number of upperclassmen, including a pair of seniors, Sophia Abelson and Zoe Manion, and a pair of juniors, Lauren Fitz-Randolph and Rachael Reichenbach.
The Musketeers also return a pair of talented sophomores who made an immediate impact during their freshman seasons, Ahmeir Kyle and Kaitlin Ruether.
Head coach Doug Matthews also added a four-person freshman class, Anna Letto, Natalie Moyer, Hunter Roper and Emily Thomas.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS

Xavier women's tennis opened up fall play at the Greater Cincinnati Invitational held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Returnees Lauren Fitz-Randolph and Kaitlin Ruether were joined by newcomers Anna Letto and Natalie Moyer for three rounds of singles and doubles play. Xavier's women collected 11 wins, with each of its four competitors going 2-1 in singles play, plus three doubles wins.
At the Purdue Invite, Xavier women's tennis collected four flight championships, including three singles flights and the Gold Doubles Draw championships. Kaitlin Ruether posted a 7-0 mark on the weekend, winning both her singles and doubles flights.
At the ITA Ohio Valley Regional, Xavier women's tennis collected 20 singles wins, the B-Flight Championship and an appearance in the quarterfinals of the main draw. Lauren Fitz-Randolph collected five of those wins on her way to winning the B-Flight, beating competitors from IUPUI, Tennessee, Memphis and Miami in two sets each on her way to the championship match of the 64- competitor bracket.
A the UC Tennis Pam Whitehead Invitational, Xavier women's tennis came away with the top two doubles finishes and a pair of team wins in the hidden dual format. Xavier fell to host Cincinnati, and picked up team wins over Chattanooga and Illinois Chicago. Xavier went 9-2 in doubles play and 11-9 in singles play.

THE OPPONENT: IOWA

The match with Xavier is the spring dual opener for Iowa. The Hawkeyes competed at Metroplex Mania, a three-day tournament at Southern Methodist, which ran from January 11-13.
The Hawkeyes finished last season with a 10-14 record and recorded two Big Ten Conference wins.
The Musketeers did not play Iowa last season.

THE OPPONENT: NORTH TEXAS

North Texas opened up the spring season with a 7-0 win over Abilene Christian.
North Texas had an overall record of 9-14 in the 2017-18 spring season. UNT finished 2-3 in Conference USA, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament.
Xavier did not play North Texas last season, the Musketeers last played UNT in 2011, a 7-0 win for the Mean Green.

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