No. 35 Women's Tennis Begins Season at Northwestern Invitational
Blue Demons play student-athletes from UIC, Florida International and Northwestern this Weekend
Jan. 13, 2011
Weekly Women's Tennis Notes 
CHICAGO – Ranked No. 35 in the Jan. 4 Campbell’s/ITA College Tennis Rankings, the DePaul women’s tennis team begins is spring season at the Northwestern Invitational this weekend in Evanston. The Blue Demons are scheduled to play student-athletes from UIC, No. 54 Florida International and host No. 9 Northwestern.
“I am really looking forward to getting some match play against three really quality teams,” head coach Mark Ardizzone said of this weekend’s tournament participants.
“Practice has been fantastic since we got back, but there is no substitute to actually playing matches.”
The Invitational begins on Friday at Northwestern’s Combe Indoor Tennis Center with two rounds of doubles before singles play beings at 6:30 p.m. The Blue Demons hit the courts Saturday afternoon at 2:45 p.m., before Sunday’s action begins at 8 a.m.
In preparation for its grueling spring schedule which could see DePaul face 15 team’s that are currently ranked in the top 75, the Blue Demons played in some of the premiere fall tournaments earlier this season – including the ITA All-American, Sooner Fall Invitational and the ITA Midwest Regional in the fall.
Freshman Kelsey Lawson led the squad with an 8-5 singles mark, while Christiana Raymond followed with a 7-5 record. Senior Katarina Milinkovic, who posted a 5-5 singles mark and reached the Round of 16 at the ITA Midwest Regional in October, opens the spring season ranked No. 17 in the Midwest Regional rankings.
Selma Salkovic joins Milinkovic as the only other senior on the Blue Demon roster. Salkovic is DePaul’s winningest doubles player in school history and beings her spring campaign with a 100-33 record. She is the first DePaul player to record 100 doubles wins while she is 74-38 all-time in singles.
“This tournament gives our seniors a great opportunity to start their senior season,” Ardizzone added.
“Both are both great leaders -- Selma has always been one and Katarina has really developed into a great leader as well.”
Following the Northwestern Invitational, the Blue Demons host Eastern Michigan and Western Illinois at the Lakeshore Athletic Club on Jan. 22. The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. on the corner of Fullerton and Lakewood.
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