Oct. 3, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Seniors Shannon Mathews (Birmingham, Mich.) and Kristy Frilling (Sidney, Ohio) are set to being their fall season this week when they take to the court at the 2011 ITA/Riviera All-American Championships, which runs Oct. 4-9 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Both will be competing in singles action while also teaming up to enter the doubles draw.
Mathews gets her tournament underway on Tuesday as she begins the qualifying singles draw in search of a spot in the main singles draw, which gets underway Thursday. Only the final eight from the 64-person qualifying bracket earn a spot into the main draw. Ranked as the 38th-best player in the country in the ITA preseason rankings, Mathews begins her quest for a main-draw bid with a first round matchup against senior Nadja Gilchrist of the Georgia Bulldogs, who ranks 43rd in the preseason rankings.
Frilling, who is making her third consecutive appearance at the event, earned automatic qualification into the main draw, as she begins her final campaign with the Irish as the third ranked women’s player in the nation in the preseason ITA poll. She begins her run for the ITA/Riviera All-American Championship on Thursday with her opponent to be named upon conclusion of the qualifying draw.
Last season at the tournament, Frilling advanced into the round of 16 before falling to top-ranked Jana Juricova of California in straight sets, while she moved into the second round of the tournament in her first appearance in ’09 before suffering defeat to the eighth-ranked Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech.
Mathews and Frilling, ranked the fifth-best doubles tandem in the preseason polls, also earned automatic entrance into the main draw for the second consecutive year. Now entering their second full season together as a pairing, the Irish senior duo also will not find out their opponents until the conclusion of qualifying doubles action. Last season, the twosome finished with a 1-1 record at the championship, defeating Yale’s Vicky Brook and Lindsay Clark (8-3) in their opener before falling to Cal’s top-ranked pairing of Juricova and Mari Andersson (8-6) in the round of 16.
Be sure to check back with und.com for updates as Frilling and Mathews look to make deep runs at this year’s ITA/Riviera All-American Championships.