UCI Sophomore Gains Main Draw in ITCA Event

IRVINE — Maggie Powers, a UC Irvine sophomore, won two qualifying matches Wednesday to join three teammates in the 64-player main draw of the Rolex-ITCA Southern California Women’s Tennis Championships at UC Irvine.

Powers defeated Patty Loo of Cal State Long Beach, 7-6, 7-5 in a first-round match and Carol Westfall of New Mexico State, 6-0, 6-3. Powers will face LuAnn Klimchock of Arizona State in a first-round main-draw match at 9 a.m. today.

Irvine’s Naomi Iseri, Quynh Le, Melissa Vaccaro, Krista Kuechler and Michelle Manley all lost qualifying matches Wednesday, as did Robin Szinak and Christa Hanson of Cal State Fullerton.

Krista Amend of Arizona State, ranked 15th on the Volvo Tennis/Collegiate Rankings, is seeded first.

Anne Mall, a UCLA freshman who won last year’s Southern Section singles title while playing for Dana Hills High School, will make her collegiate debut in a 9 a.m. match against Courtney Strauss of UC Santa Barbara. Mall, a finalist in September’s U.S. Open junior girls’ division, is ranked 49th.