Athletic Report
October 18, 2001

LAYLA TURNER WINS QUARTERFINAL MATCH AT ITA/ROLEX NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
PLANO, TX — Senior tennis player Layla Turner (Casa Grande, AZ/Casa Grande Union H.S.) of Eastern New Mexico University defeated Erin Bartsch of Bloomsburg University, 6-2, 6-1, in the quarterfinals of the ITA/Rolex NCAA Division II National Tournament, Oct. 18 in Plano, Texas.

Turner advanced to the semifinals, where she will take on top-seeded Zsofia Golopencza of Armstrong Atlantic State University on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 a.m. (MST). The championship and third place matches are set for Saturday, Oct. 20 at 7:30 a.m. (MST).

Bartsch dropped into the consolation bracket. She will play Deniz Emre of Lees-McRae College (N.C.) on Friday. Golopencza defeated Emre, 6-0, 6-0, in the quarterfinals.

In other quarterfinal matches, #2 seed Monika Matalirova of Lynn University (Fla.) defeated Michaela Kratochvilova of Armstrong Atlantic, 6-3, 6-4, and Victoria Domina of Ouachita Baptist downed Ana Skafar of Lees-McRae, 6-3, 6-2. Matalirova will take on Domina in the other winner’s bracket semifinal. Katochvilova will meet Skafar in the consolation semifinals.

The ITA/Rolex National Small College Tennis Championships feature some of the top players in NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, the NAIA and the NJCAA. Each division has singles and doubles brackets for men and women.The tournament continues through Oct. 21, ending with the Rolex “Super Bowl”, which matches the NCAA Division II national champions in singles and doubles against champions from NCAA Division III, the NAIA and the NJCAA.

The NCAA Division II portion of the National Tournament features six champions from ITA/Rolex regional tournaments this fall, plus two alternates from regions with champions who were not available to compete.

Turner won the ITA/Rolex Central Regional title for the third consecutive year, defeating Lacy Johnson of Abilene Christian University in the finals, 7-5, 6-2, Oct. 7 in Greeley, Colorado. Turner placed 6th in singles and 5th in doubles at the ITA/Rolex National Tournament for NCAA Division II in 1999. She placed 4th in singles last season, and has clinched at least a 4th place finish this year.

After qualifying in both singles and doubles in 1999, she qualified for the singles bracket in 1999, and earned another berth in singles competition this fall.