Women’s Tennis Hosts CSU Cougar Invite to Begin 2018-19 Slate

Sophomore Katarina Drazic

CHICAGO – Chicago State women's tennis begins its 2018-19 slate tomorrow with the annual CSU Cougar Invitational that will take place at the CSU Tennis Courts beginning tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.

The tournament will be held in a blind duel format and will not have any team scoring. The Cougars will play in a combined squad with St. Francis (Ill.) with local rival Valparaiso and Cardinal Stritch also joining the tournament.

CSU and St. Francis will take on against Valpo in the tournament opener at 10 a.m. followed by Valpo battling Cardinal Stritch at 1 p.m. The final match of the day will see Stritch take on the CSU/USF team at 4 p.m.

Heading into his 10th season as head coach is Jack Barton and he brings back four returners from last season's squad that includes sophomores Katarina Drazic (Sarasota, Fla./Elevation Preparatory Academy) and Iesha Shepherd (Nassau, Bahamas/Laurel Springs School).

Drazic led the Green and White with a 12-7 singles record and finished 3-2 against Western Athletic Conference opposition a year ago, while Shephard posted an 11-8 mark in singles play during her inaugural collegiate campaign.

Three newcomers joining the team looking to make an impact this season are sophomore Maria Kuzminskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russia), and freshmen Lizi Morgoshia (Tblisi, Georgia/No. 35 Public School) and Kristina Pukhaeva (Vladikavkaz, Georgia/No. 98 Public School).

Chicago State returns to action on Sept. 28-29 with the Olivet Nazarene Invitational in Bourbonnais, Ill.

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