Sep 6, 2013
SKILLMAN, N.J. - Senior Chelsea Utting (Peachtree City, Ga.) has been named an alternate for the 2013 ITA/Riviera All-American Championships. It was announced Friday afternoon that Utting will be an alternate for the pre-qualifying rounds of singles competition in the tournament at the end of the month.
The tournament begins on September 28 and 29 with prequalifying rounds taking place at UCLA. The qualifying and main draw rounds will be played at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, California from September 3 through October 6.
Utting is one of nine Big Ten Conference players selected to compete in the prestigious event. Last year Utting competed in the All-American Championships for her first time, playing in the qualifying round of doubles and prequalifying round of singles. In last year's prequalifying singles action Utting was topped by the defending national champion Florida Gators Olivia Janowicz, 6-2, 6-2.
In the doubles competition at last year's event Utting knocked off Millie Nichols and Olivia Smith of TCU, ranked No. 16 in the nation at the time, 8-6 to move onto the round of 16. In the next round she faced Emina Bektas and Brooke Bolender of Michigan alongside teammate Petra Januskova (Ottawa, Canada). The Nittany Lions fell to the pair of Wolverines 8-1 but got their revenge in the spring when they knocked off the duo, then ranked No. 3 in the nation, in a rematch 9-8 (10-3).
The ITA Preseason Rankings were released on Friday afternoon as well. No Nittany Lions made the rankings heading into the fall season, however, the Nittany Lions will have the opportunity to face many ranked players and duos in the spring. Penn State will face 17 players ranked in the preseason singles rankings in the spring including 10 from Big Ten opponents. The Nittany Lions will also face nine ranked pairs during the spring season, five of which play in the Big Ten.
Several Nittany Lions will get their first taste of action this fall next Friday when they travel to Midland, Texas to compete in the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational. The tournament will feature singles and doubles action among some of the top talent in the nation. Teams competing in this year's invitational include Texas, Nebraska, Baylor and Kansas. The rest of the team will be in action the following weekend when they head to Philadelphia for the Cissie Leary Invitational.