Rice Begins Play at ITA Texas Regional

Varsha Shiva-Shankar tied for second on the team with 14 dual match singles wins last spring.

10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Oct. 16, 2009

WACO - Rice University junior Varsha Shiva-Shankar will look to move into the main draw of the ITA Texas Regional Saturday morning following a victory in the qualifying draw on Friday.

Shiva-Shankar defeated UTEP's Marina Deluca 6-4, 6-2 Friday. She will play either Texas Tech's Stefanie Peana or Lamar's Diana Mendez Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the winner gaining a berth in the main draw of the tournament. Singles play begins Saturday afternoon with doubles starting late Saturday morning.

Rice currently has six singles players and three doubles teams in the main draws of the regional. Shiva-Shankar is looking to play herself into one of eight qualifying slots.

The ITA Texas Regional runs through Tuesday.