Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
ACU Invitational
Lady Raiders open fall season with two tournaments
September 28, 2023 | Women's Tennis
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech Lady Raiders are opening their fall season with two away tournaments beginning this weekend. First, four Lady Raiders – Andreea Lila, Arina Oreshchenkova, Camryn Stepp and Jermine Sherif – are heading to Abilene, Texas for the ACU Invitational from Sept. 29 through Oct. 1. Then, five Lady Raiders – Yekaterina Dmitrichenko, Metka Komac, Mariya Polishchuk, Avelina Sayfetdinova and Cristina Tiglea – qualified for the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C., which starts on Sept. 30 and ends on Oct. 8.
At the ACU Invitational, Texas Tech will compete against players from Tarleton State, New Mexico State and UTSA. Play will begin on Friday, Sept. 29 at 9 a.m. with doubles, followed by a flight of singles.
This event will mark the first competition in the Scarlet and Black for freshman Jermine Sherif, who joined the Lady Raiders this fall. Stepp had a breakout season last year in doubles as she collected 17 overall wins and 10 wins at court three, with four coming during conference play. Oreshchenkova added 10 wins for Tech in singles after tallying six of those at line six. Lila played in six matches last year, picking up two singles wins, and one in Big 12, for Tech.
Five Lady Raiders qualified for the ITA All-American Championships starting later this week as all them will compete in the prequalifying singles draw. The No. 15 duo of Komac and Sayfetdinova will appear in the main draw of doubles while the pair of Polishchuk and Tiglea are playing in the qualifying doubles draw.
Sayfetdinova tied for third on the team in 2023 with 17 overall singles wins and went 11-7 at court two, ultimately earning All-Big 12 Second Team Singles. Komac, who played at the top of the lineup in doubles with Sayfetdinova last season, led the team with 27 overall doubles wins and 13 at court one. Both Komac and Sayfetdinova went 6-1 in conference play to receive All-Big 12 First Team Doubles honors and were named the Big 12 Position Champions at line one. In addition, Komac was second on the team with 18 overall singles wins while going 5-3 in the Big 12.
Dmitrichenko led the Lady Raiders last year with 23 overall singles wins, while going 7-1 at court four and 5-3 in Big 12. She also recorded 15 doubles wins and seven at the line three position. Tiglea also tied for third for Tech with 17 overall singles wins, while tallying five at court three. She was also second on the team with 23 overall doubles wins and went 10-6 at court two. This tournament will be Polishchuk's first competition at Texas Tech after transferring from Ball State University. While at Ball State, Polishchuk played singles at the top court and was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year after going 18-1 at court one.
Players Mentioned
