QU Women's Tennis Hosts Quinnipiac Invitational This Weekend

Friday, September 16

Hamden, Conn.

10AM

Quinnipiac University

QU Women's Tennis Hosts Quinnipiac Invitational This Weekend

9/16/2016 8:01:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: QU Sports Information

OUR TURN TO HOST
The Quinnipiac women's tennis team hosts the Quinnipiac Invitational this weekend with play beginning on Friday, Sept. 16 at 10 a.m. followed by action on Saturday, Sept. 17 beginning at 9 a.m. and play concluding on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 9 a.m. with all matches coming at the QU Outdoor Tennis Courts.

WHO'S COMING?
Seven other teams have been invited to the Quinnipiac Invitational, outside of the host Quinnipiac. Traveling to compete are the Fairfield Stags, Fordham Rams, Connecticut Huskies, Army West Point Black Knights, Sacred Heart Pioneers, Drexel Dragons and Providence Friars.

LAST SEASON'S QU INVITE
Rachel Horton and Profon Lohaphaisan highlighted the Bobcats performance in the QU Invite a year ago, reaching the finals in the Flight "A" doubles. Lohaphaisan won in singles in her first match in Flight "B" singles, while Jennifer Lu earned a win in Flight "A".

GREAT START
The Bobcats opened the 2016-17 season in fine fashion, compiling a 20-0 record at the Sacred Heart Doubles Festival. Sydney Young and Rachel Horton teamed up to go 5-0 in the Flight "A" competition, Jennifer Lu and Profon Lohaphasian went 5-0 in Flight "B", Layla Rodriguez and Nicole Katzarkov were 5-0 in Flight "C" and Kelsi Oliphant, Alexandra Mircea and Amy Zammarieh were 5-0 in Flight "D". Siena, Fairfield, Providence, Sacred Heart and Holy Cross were the other teams invited.

RENCHELI INVITED TO ITA COMPETITION
Sitilia Rencheli was chosen to participate in the 2016 Oracle/ITA Masters at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, which takes place from Oct. 13-16. Each collegiate conference gets one player into the singles draw per gender. The player that is chosen is the returning conference player of the year. If the POY was a senior and graduated, then the highest returning player in the ITA Final National Rankings or highest returning Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) rated player is chosen. Class of 2016 graduate Sophia Dzulynsky won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year award for the 2015-2016 season. However, because of Dzulynsky's graduation, Rencheli replaced her.

FRESHMEN HAVE IMMEDIATE IMPACT
Three freshmen contributed to the perfect record that the Bobcats compiled at the Sacred Heart Doubles Festival. The team of Layla Rodriguez and Nicole Katzarkov were a perfect 5-0 in the Flight "C" competition, while Amy Zammarieh helped the Quinnipiac Flight "D" team go perfect as well. Rodriguez hails from Rancho Santa Margarita, California, where she was ranked as high as No. 138 nationally. Katzarkov hails from Coral Gables, Florida, where she was a finalist in the Florida State 1A Individual championships. Zammarieh is a local product of Trumbull, Connecticut, where she as a first-team All-FCIAC selection four years in a row.

THE GANG'S ALL HERE (ALMOST)
Quinnipiac returns almost its entire team from last season's MAAC Championship squad, but does need to replace No. 1 singles player Sophia Dzulynsky, who was the 2015 MAAC Player of the Year. Rachel Horton, Sitilia Rencheli, Jennifer Lu, Sydney Young and Profon Lohaphaisan are back after finishing last year 2-6 in the singles lineup. Lohaphaisan had a team-best 19-7 overall record in singles, including 16-4 in duals. Horton also won 19 matches, while Lu won 17.

MATCH POINT
After wrapping up the Quinnipiac Invitational this weekend, the Bobcats will travel to West Point to compete in the Army West Point Invitational next weekend from Friday-Sunday, before their first dual match of the season against Connecticut on Oct. 4.