Nov. 7, 2008

ITA Tennis Events Page | Tournament Central

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - No. 22-ranked California women's tennis senior Claire Ilcinkas and No. 7-ranked sophomore Marina Cossou each had their run at the 2008 ITA National Indoor Championships cut short today as they fell to the two top ranked players in the country in the quarterfinal round at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va. The four-day tournament hosted by the University of Virginia concludes on Sunday with the crowning of a singles and doubles champion.

Ilcinkas got the morning started on the right foot as she claimed a three-set victory over No. 87-ranked Ragini Acharya of William & Mary. Acharya started off strong and served well on the indoor courts, getting out to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Ilcinkas fought back to earn a five-all tie but succumbed to Acharya, 7-5. Although she never faced any match points in the second set, Ilcinkas stayed on serve to earn a tiebreaker. Trailing 4-2 in the breaker, Ilcinkas rallied to hold Acharya at four points to win the second. After knotting the match at one set all, Ilcinkas claimed control of the third to pull out the 6-3 victory. She went on to draw the top seed in the tournament, No. 1-ranked Aurelija Miseviciute of Arkansas, the defending champion at the indoors, to whom she fell in a 6-1, 6-2, decision.

Facing No. 16-ranked Anastasia Petukhova of Fresno State, Cossou fought off an aggressive attack by driving the ball straight down the middle of the court. The first set remained on serve until Cossou earned a break point to go up 4-3. She held again and broke once more to take the first, 6-3. Petukhova took command in the second, and got out to a 2-0 advantage but Cossou came back to force a three-all tie before being turned away 6-3. Cossou was up 5-2 in the third when a couple of missed balls allowed Petukhova to climb back into contention. Cossou clamped down and went on to win the third however, 6-4. Advancing to face No. 2-ranked Ani Mijacika of Clemson, Cossou fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinal to end her run at the indoor championships.

No. 65-ranked senior Bojana Bobusic took a three-set win 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 over Bianca Aboubakare of Brown in the singles consolation round of 16 before falling to defending NCAA singles champion No. 3-ranked Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinal.

Play resumes with singles semifinal matches first at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT) and concludes on Sunday with the crowning of both a singles and doubles champion. For complete information, draws and results from the tournament, please visit www.itatennis.com events page or www.virginiasports.com and point your browser to the men's tennis page.

2008 ITA National Indoor Championships
Hosted by the University of Virginia | November 6-9, 2008
Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar's Head Sports Club | Charlottesville, Va.

Women's Singles Round of 16
No. 22 Claire Ilcinkas (CAL) def. No. 87 Ragini Acharya (W&M) 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3
(5) No. 7 Marina Cossou (CAL) def. No. 16 Anastasia Petukhova (FSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Women's Singles Quarterfinal
(1) No. 1 Aurelija Miseviciute (ARK) def. No. 22 Claire Ilcinkas (CAL) 6-1, 6-2
(2) No. 2 Ani Mijacika (CLEM) def. (5) No. 7 Marina Cossou (CAL) 6-4, 6-2

Women's Singles Consolation Round of 16
No. 65 Bojana Bobusic (CAL) def. Bianca Aboubakare (BRN) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4)

Women's Singles Consolation Quarterfinal
(1) No. 3 Amanda McDowell (GAT) def. No. 65 Bojana Bobusic (CAL) 6-2, 6-2