At sunny Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, Notre Dame senior Quinn Gleason lost in her first matchup at the ITA All-American championships. She fell to Vladica Babic of Oklahoma 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of qualifiers. However, her tournament is far from over, as she has yet to play in the doubles draw with partner Monica Robinson.
The pair was ranked 10th in the ITA preseason rankings, and finished 22-9 overall last season, including a 14-6 record in dual play. They have also had almost a week of practice in California to prepare.
Robinson fell in the final stage of the pre-qualifying round at the championships.
The rest of the team recently finished playing at the Purdue Fall Invitational. It was the first tournament of the season, and freshman Rachel Chong made her debut for the Irish, winning two of three matches, with the lone loss in a three-set match. She also played doubles with sophomore Brooke Broda, who was the only Irish player to pick up three singles wins on the weekend. As a pair, they reached the quarterfinals before falling to Illinois’ pair of Louise Kwong and Ines Vias.
Sophomore Allison Miller took two of three singles matches at the invitational, while junior Mary Closs and senior Alaina Roberts each took home one win in three matches in their respective draws.
In other doubles action, Closs and Miller advanced to the semifinal round of the tournament, where they fell 6-0, 6-0 to Mississippi State senior Georgiana Patrasc and freshman Anastasia Rentouli, who ultimately took home the tournament title. Closs and Miller also fell in the third-place game to come home fourth.
The main draw of the ITA All-American championships kicks off Thursday, as Gleason and Robinson will look to bring home success in the doubles draw.
