Kaluder Airpetian Franco advance at ITA regional

TULSA, Okla. – Sophomore Ela Kaluder continued her dominance in the ITA Central Regional by blanking her opening round opponent as the Arkansas Lady Razorback tennis team advanced three players into the round of 32.

“Ela continues to be a force at this tournament,” UA head coach Michael Hegarty said. “With three into the 32, this will be a big day for the Lady’Backs.”

Kaluder is joined by fellow seed Mayori Franco and qualifier Nanar Airapetian in today’s singles matches.

Rough weather took most of the action indoors, forcing the opening round doubles into the wee hours of Thursday.

Early in the morning, top-seeded Kaluder was as crisp as the wind with a 6-0, 6-0, shutout of Maria Ring of Oklahoma to advance to the second round.

The 11th seed Franco dispatched Rafaela Sousa of Oral Roberts, 6-0, 6-1. Airapetian continued her winning streak after taking two singles matches on Wednesday to reach the main draw by upsetting the 14th seed Kunigunda Dorn of Kansas in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.

“It was day of unpredictable results for everyone, but we were very please with Nanar’s win,” Hegarty said.

Arkansas had two losses in the opening round as 13th seed Audry Bordeleau was upset by Kara Hickey of Iowa State, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2, and Rachel Wilhelm lost 6-3, 6-3, to Amanda Helburg of St. Louis.