ECU To Face UConn In American Tournament Opener
April 13, 2015 | Women's Tennis
2015 American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship Central
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Although East Carolina will make its inaugural appearance in the 2015 American Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Championship Tournament in Tulsa Wednesday, it will try to maintain its recent first-round postseason success that includes six victories in the last eight years.
The ninth-seeded Pirates and No. 8 Connecticut will square off in opening-round action, marking the second meeting between the two teams in less than a week. However, unlike the Huskies' 4-1 victory at the UConn Tennis Courts in Storrs last Friday, this meeting will take place at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center beginning at 10 a.m. (ET).
Other first-round battles Wednesday include No. 6 UCF vs. No. 11 USF (10 a.m.) and No. 7 Temple vs. No. 10 Cincinnati (1 p.m.). No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Tulane, No. 3 Tulsa, No. 4 SMU and No. 5 Memphis all earned opening-round byes and begin action in the quarterfinal round Thursday. The winner of the ECU-UConn match will advance to face the top-seeded Cougars at 1 p.m.
Veteran coach Tom Morris, who is in his 17th season heading the ECU women's team and ranks as the program's all-time winningest coach with 314 victories, has guided the Pirates to a 12-11 regular season record this spring.
Junior Katie Hoch, who has played at the No. 5 position in East Carolina's singles lineup for the majority of the season, tops the Pirates with a 10-5 record. Junior Nicole LaDuca has 10 wins in 21 decisions playing at the No. 1 slot, while sophomore Michelle Castro and freshman Maria Gomez follow in the victory column with eight each. Hoch and senior Dana Gray have also played a key role in ECU's doubles efforts, recording a squad-best 13-6 pairs mark.
ECU, which produced a 12-15 ledger in 13 Conference USA Tournament appearances before starting competition in the American this season, will also try to surpass its top finish of fifth place accomplished in 2003, 2006 and 2008. The Pirates have captured at least one victory in nine of the 13 tourneys, with a program-best three triumphs in 2003.
The American Athletic Conference will provide live video coverage of all matches throughout the tournament, including a comprehensive online production of the championship final in a committed effort to promoting The American's tennis programs.
Players Mentioned
