Texas Tech University Athletics
Kilgo, Talaba Named Alternates For NCAA Doubles Championships
May 01, 2015 | Women's Tennis
Senior Kenna Kilgo and freshman Gabriela Talaba have been named alternates for the NCAA Doubles Championship later this month.
May 1, 2015
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Senior Kenna Kilgo and freshman Gabriela Talaba have been selected as the fourth alternate to compete in the NCAA Women's Tennis Doubles Championships, slated for May 20-25 in Waco on the campus of Baylor University.
The NCAA has selected 32 teams to compete in the individual tournament, as well as six alternate tandems. All matches shall be the best-of-three sets. Regular scoring and a 12-point tiebreaker at six-games-all will be used for all matches.
Over the previous six seasons, 18 alternates have been used in the main draw. Kilgo and Talaba jumped from No. 47 to No. 32 in the final regular-season ranking in order to be named the fourth alternate of the event. The Texas Tech tandem are 8-5 on the season and 7-3 in their last 10 matches. They also have recorded a pair of Top 10 wins this season.
For Kilgo, this is the senior's third selection to the NCAA Individual Doubles Championships after earning an at-large selection with former Lady Raider Samantha Adams during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Prior to Kilgo and Adams, no Lady Raider duo had been to the NCAA Individual Doubles Championships since Paula Brigance and Annemarie Walson in 1987. The only other Lady Raider to appear in the NCAA Individual Championships was Zana Zlebnik in 1998 in the singles competition.
IN THE RANKINGS
The final regular season rankings were released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Friday and the Lady Raiders held steady at No. 16.
By virtue of being ranked in the NCAA Top 16, Texas Tech is hosting one of the 16 regional sites for the first two rounds of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships. The Lady Raiders will host No. 22 LSU (Second Seed), No. 57 New Mexico (third seed) and New Mexico State (fourth seed). Texas Tech will take on New Mexico State in the first round on Friday, May 8 at 5 p.m. at the McLeod Tennis Center. Tickets for the first and second rounds are $5 for adults, $3 for students and youth under two years of age are admitted free.
Individually, three Lady Raiders are ranked in singles headed into the NCAAs. Kilgo is No. 70, Lynn Kiro is No. 74 and Sabrina Federici is No. 124. Freshman Sarah Dvorak fell from the rankings for the first time this season.
