Athletic Report
September 29, 2000

TURNER AND NIX REACH DOUBLES FINAL AT ITA/ROLEX REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
Turner also Advances to Semifinals in Singles
ABILENE, TX— Eastern New Mexico University’s top doubles team of junior Layla Turner (Casa Grande, AZ/Casa Grande Union H.S.) and freshman Bethanie Nix (Birmingham, AL/Newman Smith H.S.) have reached the championship match at the ITA/Rolex NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament in Abilene, Texas. Turner has also advanced to the semifinals of the singles bracket. Tournament action concludes on Saturday, Sept. 30.

In doubles, Turner and Nix began the event as the #3-seeded team. They defeated the tournament’s #1 seed, Kasey Hawkins and Sarah Taweel of Abilene Christian, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals. Turner and Nix will take on 4th-seeded Leah Ticer and Andi Wildner of Abilene Christian in the championship match, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (CDT). Ticer and Wildner upset the #2-seeded team of D. Cipolla and Daniela Ivana of Southern Colorado, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in the other semifinal match.

Turner, the #2 seed in the singles bracket, defeated 8th-seeded Wildner, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Turner will take on Ticer, seeded #4, in a semifinal match Saturday morning (8:00 a.m. CDT). Earlier on Friday, Turner swept past L. Lawson of ACU, 6-0, 6-0.

The other remaining singles players are the #1 seed, Taweel, and the #3 seed, Ivana. Taweel and Ivana will meet in the other semifinal, which will also start at 8:00 a.m.

ENMU’s Sarah Pennington (Jr., Sweetwater, TX/Sweetwater H.S.) also competed on Friday. She was defeated in the consolation singles Round of 16 by Kim Murrillo of Incarnate Word, 6-4, 6-1. Murrillo also won in the quarterfinals, and will take on Dane Shafer, also from Incarnate Word, in the consolation semifinals.

Turner is the defending ITA/Rolex NCAA Division II Midwest Regional champion in both singles and doubles. Last year, she won the doubles title with Julie Stiles (Sr. in 1999-00, Roswell, NM/Goddard H.S.). Turner and Stiles went on to take 5th place at the ITA/Rolex NCAA Division II National Tournament in Memphis, Tenn. Turner also took 6th place at the National Tournament in singles.