Tulsa Women's Tennis Team to Host Hurricane Invitational
9/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 13, 2005
Tulsa, Okla. - The University of Tulsa women's tennis team will begin the season as they host the Hurricane Invitational this weekend at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The three-day tournament will run Friday through Sunday, September 16-18, beginning at 9:00 a.m. each day.
Six teams, including Kansas, Missouri State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and Wichita State, will be competing in the invitational. Both OU and TU completed the 2004-05 season ranked in the top-75, as the Sooners tallied a No. 62 Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking and the Golden Hurricane finished at No. 75. Tulsa senior Daniela Muscolino will be the tournament's highest-ranked singles player, as she received a No. 51 ITA preseason ranking, but the Cowgirls' Iryna Tkachenko is close behind at No. 58. There will also be one ranked doubles tandem, TU's Muscolino and Carla Zabaleta, which earned a preseason No. 59 ranking.
The Golden Hurricane concluded the 2004-05 season with an 11-12 mark after losing to Boise State in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Championships. Muscolino competed in the NCAA Singles Tournament, but lost in the first round to Ashley Bentley of Alabama. She was selected to the all-WAC first-team singles and doubles teams, and was tabbed as the WAC Player of the Year. Zabaleta earned second-team all-conference singles accolades and first-team doubles honors. She was also named Freshman of the Year for the WAC. Coach Dean Orford, a longtime Tulsa men's assistant coach, begins his first year as the women's head coach.
