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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Texas A&M's Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar,
Cristina Stancu and Stefania Hristov conclude the fall tennis season this
weekend as they compete against the top players in the nation at the
prestigious USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, Nov. 8-11,
at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
"At the National Indoors, there
is absolutely no room for easing one's way into form," A&M coach Howard
Joffe said. "The field is the strongest of any event in college, including the
NCAA individual tournament. Cristina and Tina and Stef understand that if they
want to advance they will need to perform at a high level. This challenge is
something I hope they will embrace, because win or lose they will surely profit
from the competition."
Sanchez-Quintanar, the highest ranked player in A&M
history at No. 4 in the preseason ITA singles rankings, is the No. 2 seed in the
32-player singles draw. She is making her second consecutive appearance in the tournament
after earning an automatic berth by winning the singles title at the ITA Texas
Regional last month in Waco, Texas.
The senior from Campo de Criptana, Spain, will face 11th-ranked
Danielle Lao of USC Thursday at 2:30 p.m. (ET).
Hristov and Stancu, both from Romania and in their first
year at A&M, received an automatic bid by winning the doubles title at the Texas
Regional. Despite being paired together for the first time, Hristov, a
freshman, and Stancu, a junior, reeled off six consecutive victories to win the
regional championship and advance.
They will face seventh-ranked Lorraine Guillermo and Khunpak
Issara of Pepperdine in the first round of the 20-team field, Thursday at a
time to be determined.
Live scoring of the tournament will be available at
itatennis.com. In addition, Ken Thomas of RadioTennis.com will be on site
throughout the week starting Thursday, providing a live broadcast beginning at
10:15 a.m. (ET) each day.
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