University of Houston Athletics
Houston Tennis Set to Open 2011-12 Season
9/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Sept. 15, 2011
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Four members of the University of Houston tennis team will travel to compete in the third-annual Islanders Open to kick off the 2011-12 season beginning Friday.
Assistant coach Jo Keene will accompany Celia Fraser, Jo Garvey, Liselot Koenen and Dionne Sanders to the season's opening tournament, while head coach John Severance will continue training with the remaining four student-athletes at Houston.
"We're taking a very young group this weekend, including Liselot (Koenen), who will play in her first collegiate tournament," Severance said. "We're just looking for tournament wins. We had an excellent tournament last season, and I'm looking for the same this time around."
This weekend marks the first collegiate tournament to be played at the new Thomas J. Henry Tennis Center. The tournament consists of a 32-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw as well as a consolation round after a first-round loss.
Play will begin at 5 p.m., on Friday and continue at 9 a.m., on Saturday morning. The singles and doubles finals will begin at 9 a.m., on Sunday morning.
Along with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, other participating schools include Lamar, UTSA, Abilene Christian and Tyler Junior College.
Last season, the Cougars kicked off the year in impressive fashion, as Bryony Hunter and Giorgia Pozzan claimed the Islanders Open doubles title as well as both reaching the singles final before it was called due to inclement weather.
Houston returns a veteran unit this season as six of eight letterwinners are back for the Scarlet and White.
All six starters in the singles lineup from a year ago notched at least 10 victories en route to a 93-42 (.689) record in singles action, an increase of 32 wins from the previous season.
Players Mentioned
