The University of Akron Athletics
Women's Tennis Preps for Penn's Cissie Leary Invitational
September 19 | Women's Tennis
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AKRON, Ohio – The Zips women's tennis squad continues its fall season this weekend by traveling to Philadelphia to participate in the 17th-annual Cissie Leary Invitational, hosted by Penn. Matches will be played at the Hamlin Tennis Center and Levy Tennis Pavilion on Friday through Sunday, with competition beginning each day at 8 a.m. ET.
Fifteen schools will take part in this year's event. Joining Akron and Penn in the field also will be Bowdoin, Columbia, Cornell, Delaware, Drexel, LIU Brooklyn, Maryland, Penn State, Princeton, Rhode Island, Richmond and St. John's. The tournament will feature two 64-person singles flights and one 64-team doubles bracket.
The Zips opened the season last weekend at the Cornell Invitational. The UA pair of Olga Shkundina and Shannon Newnes won flight A doubles, while Madison Cohen claimed the C singles bracket to highlight the team's action in the event.
The Cissie Leary Invitational will be held in honor of the late Cissie Leary, who passed away in November 1996 after a battle with scleroderma. Leary came to Penn in 1977 and had 16 teams with winning records in her 20 seasons coaching women's tennis. In 1982, Leary had one of her most successful seasons coaching as Penn claimed the EITA team championship. Her squad also completed five-straight undefeated seasons from 1981 through 1985. Leary was active in the local community, spending time with the Fight Against Drugs campaign for underprivileged children and the Greater Philadelphia Kidney Transplant Association.
The Zips continue the fall component of the season in two weeks when they head to the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State on Sept. 27-29.
Players Mentioned
