Sports > October 2, 2008

By Phillip Brame | Staff writer

It was a disappointing trip to California for junior Sasha Kulikova as she lost in the first round of the qualifying draw while representing the women’s tennis team at the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships in Los Angeles.

The No. 50-ranked Moscow, Russia native fell to No. 109 Bianca Eichkorn of the University of Miami, 6-4, 6-2 Sept. 29.

The All-American Championships brings together the top collegiate players from around the country for a single elimination tournament.

Players are selected for the tournament by regional selection committees and are placed into either the pre-qualifying, qualifying or directly into the main draw based upon their rankings.

Eichkorn won three matches in the pre-qualifying draw in order to win acceptance into the qualifying draw, while Kulikova was placed directly into the qualifying draw.

The All-American Championships is one of three opportunities for players to win an individual national title, the others being the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November and the NCAA Championships in May.

Prior to arriving at Wake Forest, Kulikova was a member of the Russian Junior National Team from 2002-2006 and ranked as high as 526th by the WTA when she was 16 years old and 618th in doubles.

The next action for the women’s tennis team will come on Oct. 11 when they begin play in the USTA Team Invitational held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, home of the US Open. The Deacons will then host the ITA Regionals Oct. 22-27.