Wednesday, May 17
Peachtree City, Ga.
10:00 a.m.
California State University at Northridge
vs
Stetson
Photo by: Big West Conference
CSUN Opens NIT Against Stetson
5/15/2023 11:36:00 AM | Women's Tennis
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—CSUN begins play in the inaugural Universal Tennis National Invitational Championship (NIT Championship) Wednesday when the Matadors face Stetson. The first serve is 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT.
The University Tennis NIT Championship will be conducted from May 17-20 at the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Amazon Prime will stream the tournament and be available to regular Prime subscribers at no additional cost.
Stetson (18-8) is the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Hatters are coming off a season where they were 18-8 and 6-2 in the ASUN. The Hatters were the number 2 seed in the ASUN Championship.
A pair of Hatters, Anais Gabriel, and Alanna DiFrancesco, were selected second-team All-Conference. A third, Cheri Darley, was chosen third-team All-Conference.
Stetson defeated CSUN 4-3 on Mar. 8, 2013, in the only previous meeting between the two clubs. The winner of the CSUN-Stetson dual will face the winner of the dual between No. 2 seed Colorado (12-12) and fellow Big West member Cal Poly (14-9).
The other side of the bracket features the No. 1 seed, TCU, facing Big West member UC San Diego (10-13), and the No. 4 seed, Appalachian State (13-8), facing Wyoming (14-10).
TCU (No. 47), Colorado (No. 62), and Wyoming (No. 70) are all ranked in the current ITA Top 75.
Once the tournament begins, match schedules and tournament brackets can be followed here.
The tournament format will be playoff knockout rounds with two matches guaranteed. First-round losers will get one extra match.
CSUN is playing outside a conference tournament for the first time since 2001 when the Matadors, as Big Sky Conference champions, lost 4-1 to Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Matadors went 17-6, the most dual wins for the program since 2011, when CSUN won 16 (16-6). CSUN defeated three teams (Boston U, Fordham, and Youngstown State) that won their respective conferences and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors ended 2023 with a 6-3 league record, the most victories for the Matadors in Big West play since 2008, when CSUN went 6-2 in conference play. CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara twice, the 2022 Big West Champions.
Four CSUN women's tennis players were selected All-Big West Conference, as announced by the conference on May 4.
Jolene Coetzee and Angela Ho were selected first-team All-Conference in doubles. Coetzee and Ho played exclusively at No. 1 and went 12-5 for the Matadors during the Spring. Counting Fall Tournament play, Coetzee and Ho are 18-7. Coetzee and Ho are the first CSUN doubles team to earn first-team All-Conference honors since 2016 (Mickey Hsu/Kristen Poei).
The pair entered the Division I ITA Collegiate Tennis National Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point in doubles this past week at No. 89.
Yuliia Zhytelna and Sasha Turchak were both named second-team All-Conference in singles. Playing primarily at No. 3, Zhytelna recorded a team-high 15 singles victories (15-4). Turchak was the Matadors' No. 2 player for most of the season. She went 12-7.
Coetzee was selected honorable mention All-Conference in singles for the second time in her career. The No. 1 CSUN player, Coetzee went 7-12.
Finally, Zhytelna and Turchak were named honorable mention All-Conference in doubles. The duo played together in 22 matches at No. 2, posting a 14-8 record.
Coetzee, Turchak, and Zhytelna were named to the 2023 Academic All-District® Women's Tennis Team, selected by College Sports Communicators on May 9.
~#UniteTheValley~
The University Tennis NIT Championship will be conducted from May 17-20 at the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Amazon Prime will stream the tournament and be available to regular Prime subscribers at no additional cost.
Stetson (18-8) is the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Hatters are coming off a season where they were 18-8 and 6-2 in the ASUN. The Hatters were the number 2 seed in the ASUN Championship.
A pair of Hatters, Anais Gabriel, and Alanna DiFrancesco, were selected second-team All-Conference. A third, Cheri Darley, was chosen third-team All-Conference.
Stetson defeated CSUN 4-3 on Mar. 8, 2013, in the only previous meeting between the two clubs. The winner of the CSUN-Stetson dual will face the winner of the dual between No. 2 seed Colorado (12-12) and fellow Big West member Cal Poly (14-9).
The other side of the bracket features the No. 1 seed, TCU, facing Big West member UC San Diego (10-13), and the No. 4 seed, Appalachian State (13-8), facing Wyoming (14-10).
TCU (No. 47), Colorado (No. 62), and Wyoming (No. 70) are all ranked in the current ITA Top 75.
Once the tournament begins, match schedules and tournament brackets can be followed here.
The tournament format will be playoff knockout rounds with two matches guaranteed. First-round losers will get one extra match.
CSUN is playing outside a conference tournament for the first time since 2001 when the Matadors, as Big Sky Conference champions, lost 4-1 to Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Matadors went 17-6, the most dual wins for the program since 2011, when CSUN won 16 (16-6). CSUN defeated three teams (Boston U, Fordham, and Youngstown State) that won their respective conferences and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors ended 2023 with a 6-3 league record, the most victories for the Matadors in Big West play since 2008, when CSUN went 6-2 in conference play. CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara twice, the 2022 Big West Champions.
Four CSUN women's tennis players were selected All-Big West Conference, as announced by the conference on May 4.
Jolene Coetzee and Angela Ho were selected first-team All-Conference in doubles. Coetzee and Ho played exclusively at No. 1 and went 12-5 for the Matadors during the Spring. Counting Fall Tournament play, Coetzee and Ho are 18-7. Coetzee and Ho are the first CSUN doubles team to earn first-team All-Conference honors since 2016 (Mickey Hsu/Kristen Poei).
The pair entered the Division I ITA Collegiate Tennis National Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point in doubles this past week at No. 89.
Yuliia Zhytelna and Sasha Turchak were both named second-team All-Conference in singles. Playing primarily at No. 3, Zhytelna recorded a team-high 15 singles victories (15-4). Turchak was the Matadors' No. 2 player for most of the season. She went 12-7.
Coetzee was selected honorable mention All-Conference in singles for the second time in her career. The No. 1 CSUN player, Coetzee went 7-12.
Finally, Zhytelna and Turchak were named honorable mention All-Conference in doubles. The duo played together in 22 matches at No. 2, posting a 14-8 record.
Coetzee, Turchak, and Zhytelna were named to the 2023 Academic All-District® Women's Tennis Team, selected by College Sports Communicators on May 9.
~#UniteTheValley~
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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