Vasilescu & Pedroso Advance to Round of 16 in Doubles Play at ITA Midwest Regionals

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Akron's No. 1 doubles pair won two matches on the second day of competition to advance to the Round of 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships at the Varsity Tennis Center on Friday.

In the first round, sophomore Miruna Vasilescu (Ulm, Germany) and junior Rita Pedroso (Porto, Portugal) defeated Wisconsin's Ava Markham and Maryann Rompf, 8-5. The Zips' duo then upset the No. 6 seed Asuka Kawai and Emilee Duong of Illinois, 8-5.

Vasilescu and Pedroso take on No. 12 seed Danielle Wolf and Mary Beth Hurley of Ohio State in the Round of 16 on Saturday at 9 a.m.

In other first round doubles action, sophomore Anna Uljanov (Schweinfurt, Germany) and freshman Claudia Cecilia Rosas Garcia (Gaudalajara, Mexico) fells to Michigan State's Nicole Stephens and Samantha Memje, 8-4. In consolation action, Uljanov and Rosas completed doubles play with a 8-3 loss to DePaul's Milica Tesic and Maddie Yergler.

Redshirt senior Sophia Geier (Burgebrach, Germany) and freshman Holland Long (Rochester, N.Y.) dropped a first round match to Toledo's Kiersten Carlson and Kokoro Chishaki, 8-5

"Overall, I am pleased with how we played in doubles today," head coach Brandon Padgett said. "Anna played very strong doubles today, and she served at an incredibly high level. Rita and Miruna picked up a huge win for the program today, taking down an exceptional team from Illinois, after defeating another good Big Ten team from Wisconsin in the previous round. Rita stepped up and showed amazing leadership on court, both in how she played and how she communicated. Miruna served so well today, and in the end, that was key to winning. It set Rita up for easy volleys, and it allowed for many free points with unreturned serves."

"Tomorrow will be a lot of fun as we get the opportunity to play doubles on the second day, which we haven't done in a long time," he added. "I'm excited to see Miruna and Sophia play singles tomorrow, and I know that they will both be ready to go!"

Action at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, hosted by the University of Michigan, at the Varsity Tennis Center continues on Saturday, Oct. 20. Admission to the six-day event is FREE.

Geier and Vasilescu will compete in the Main Draw Singles, which begin on Saturday, Oct. 20. Vasilescu will face Ohio State's Danielle Wolf. As the No. 9 seed, Geier earned a first-round bye. She will take on the winner from the Anna Makarova (Wisconsin)/Fleur Eggink (Marquette) match in the second round.

ITA Midwest Regional Championship Schedule*

Friday, Oct. 19
Main Draw Doubles First Round
Nicole Stephens/Samantha Memje (Michigan St.) def. Anna Uljanov/Ceci Rosas (Akron), 8-4
Miruna Vasilescu/Rita Pedroso (Akron) def. Ava Markham/Maryann Rompf (Wisconsin), 8-5
Kiersten Carlson/Kokoro Chishaki (Toledo) def. Sophia Geier/Holland Long (Akron), 8-5

Consolation Match
Milica Tesic/Maddie Yergler (DePaul) def. Anna Uljanov/Ceci Rosas (Akron), 8-3

Main Draw Doubles Second Round
Miruna Vasilescu/Rita Pedroso (Akron) def. #6 seed Asuka Kawai/Emilee Duong (Illinois), 8-5

Saturday, Oct. 20
9 a.m. -- Doubles Main Draw Round of 16
            Miruna Vasilescu/Rita Pedroso (Akron) vs. #12 seed Danielle Wolf/Mary Beth Hurley
            (Ohio State)
To Follow -- Singles Main Draw First Round
            Miruna Vasilescu (Akron) vs. Danielle Wolf (Ohio State)
            Sophia Geier (Akron)– Bye
To Follow -- Singles Main Draw Second Round
            Sophia Geier (Akron) vs. winner of Anna Makarova (Wisconsin)/Fleur Eggink
            (Marquette)

Sunday, Oct. 21
10 a.m. -- Doubles Main Draw Quarterfinals
To Follow -- Doubles Main Draw Semifinals
To Follow -- Singles Main Draw Round of 16

Monday, Oct. 22
9 a.m. -- Doubles Main Draw Championship
To Follow -- Singles Main Draw Quarterfinals
To Follow -- Singles Main Draw Semifinals

Tuesday, Oct. 23
10 a.m. -- Singles Main Draw Championship

*Schedule is subject to change

Midwest Region Teams
Michigan, Akron, Bowling Green, Chicago State, Cleveland State, DePaul, Detroit, Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois, Marquette, Michigan State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Toledo, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Youngstown State

The University of Akron Athletics

Vasilescu & Pedroso Advance to Round of 16 in Doubles Play at ITA Midwest Regionals

Players Mentioned

Sophia Geier

Holland Long

Rita Pedroso

Anna Uljanov

Miruna Vasilescu

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