Oct. 23, 2005

STANFORD, Calif. - The Washington State Cougars completed their first day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Northwest Regional by sending three out of the four doubles tandems into the round of 16. The Cougars also qualified three into the round of 32 in tomorrows play.

"I'm so excited that we have three of our four doubles teams entering the round 16," Washington State Head Coach Lisa Hart said. "I'm so proud of all the girls, and thrilled with the way they competed."

WSU sophomores Ekaterina Burduli and Aleksandra Stefanova found themselves with a first round bye, and then defeated Aude Lambert and Stefani Ordoveza of Saint Mary's, 8-4. They will be matched up against the Cal duo of Claire Ilcinkas and Stephanie Kusano.

Joining Burduli and Stefanova in the round of 16 is Maria Ring and Amy Toth. After besting a San Jose State duo of Silvana Dukic and Roshi Larijani, 8-3, they went on to defeat Pacific's Natalia Kostenko and Helen Schneider, 8-1. They will resume play on Saturday against Washington's Dinka Hadzic and Tara Simpson, currently No. 55 by the ITA.

WSU newcomers Aleksandra Cekic and Marjolein van de Ven beat Lindsey Griffin and Anna Gullikson of Portland, 9-8 in the first round. Then defeated UC Davis' Robin Guier and Audrey Wingo, 8-2.

WSU junior van de Ven went through the first two rounds of the ITA Northwest Regional without losing a set. She beat San Francisco's Sara Oudomvilay, 6-2, 6-1. Then in the second round van de Ven got the best of Aude Lambert of Saint Mary's, 6-1, 7-5.

Tel Aviv, Israel native, Burduli also joined van de Ven in the round of 32 in singles play. Along with Burduli and van de Ven WSU freshman Bianca Selaru qualified for the third round. Play continues Saturday Oct. 22 at 8 a.m.

2005 ITA Northwest Regional

ITA Singles Round of 128 No. 45 Ekaterina Burduli (WSU), BYE Tessa Hollyn Taub (WSU), DEFAULT Cekic (WSU) def. Knox (EWU), 6-1, 6-1 Macedo (USF) def. Toth (WSU), 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 Ring (WSU) def. Leck (STAN), 6-0, 6-4 Selaru (WSU) def. Schneider (Pacific), 6-2, 6-1 Stefanova (WSU) def. Soltysik (Portland), 6-3, 7-5 van de Ven (WSU) def. Oudomvilay (USF), 6-2, 6-1

Round of 64 No. 45 Burduli (WSU) def. Twarowska (Pacific), 6-1, 6-2 Fabiani (USF) def. Ring (WSU), 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 Ordoveza (Saint Mary's) def. Hollyn Taub (WSU), 6-0, 6-0 Pamert (USF) def. Cekic (WSU), 6-0, 6-2 Selaru (WSU) def. Davoudi (Santa Clara), 6-2, 6-2 No. 66 Hadzic (UW) def. Stefanova (WSU), 6-3, 7-5 van de Ven (WSU) def. Lambert (Saint Mary's), 6-1, 7-5

ITA Doubles Round of 64 Burduli/Stefanova (WSU), BYE Brady/Erickson (Cal Poly) def. Hollyn Taub/Selaru (WSU), 8-1 Cekic/van de Ven (WSU) def. Griffin/Gullikson (Portland), 9-8 Ring/Toth (WSU) def. Dukic/Larijani (SJS), 8-3

Round of 32 Burduli/Stefanova (WSU) def. Lambert/Ordoveza (Saint Mary's), 8-4 Cekic/van de Ven (WSU) def. Guier/Wingo (UC Davis), 8-2 Ring/Toth (WSU) def. Kostenko/Schneider (Pacific), 8-1