Senior Sarah Cyganiak and junior Sora Moon are the only members of the Michigan women's tennis team to participate in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Clay Court Championships. The tournament, hosted by the Suburban Club of Baltimore County, is the first leg of the ITA Grand Slam Event and goes through Sunday.
Moon and Cyganiak play today in the main draw of the doubles competition. Their opponents will be determined by the results of the qualifying rounds played yesterday.
Due to their No. 28 ranking in the Rolex Collegiate Tennis Rankings for women's doubles, Cyganiak and Moon are the top Midwestern duo in the main draw.
"This is a national event with the best players," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "It is an accomplishment to play, especially being selected into the main draw."
All participants in this tournament were determined by invitation or qualification only.
Competition is expected to be strong going into the tournament, but Moon feels that she and Cyganiak have the ability to do well.
"There have been times when Cyganiak is playing well, and I'm missing shots and vice-versa," Moon said.
"When both of us are on our game at the same time, we're pretty tough."
The pair finished fourth in the Flight A Doubles at the William & Mary Invitational, upsetting the fourth-seeded team.
Cyganiak went to the tournament with the hopes of making it to the main draw of the singles competition, but lost in the qualifying match to top-seeded Olga Novikova of Penn State (6-0,6-3).
Cyganiak won her pre-qualifying round against Luanne Spadea of Duke (6-1,2-6,6-3) on Tuesday, giving her the seventh seed.
"In this tournament, so much has to do with who you play," Ritt said. "It is an excellent opportunity for the girls."
In last year's ITA Clay Court Championship tournament, Cyganiak played in the main draw of the singles competition. She fell in the first round of competition to Southern Mississippi's Kati Koncsis (6-0,6-1). She then lost in the consolation round to Suzanna Rodriguez of Louisiana State (7-6,6-7,7-5).