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Southwestern University

Daugherty, Bowers Advance to Main Draw on First Day of Oracle Cup

Daugherty, Bowers Advance to Main Draw on First Day of Oracle Cup
Posted: Oct 11, 2017

ROME, Ga. - Freshmen Kate Daugherty and Esther Bowers each competed on day one of the 2017 ITA Oracle Cup at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College. Daugherty won her play in match in singles action while Daugherty and Bowers teamed up to win their doubles play in match to advance to the main draw.

Formerly known as the Small College Nationals, the ITA Oracle Cup has history dating back to 1986, and it is the only singles and doubles national championship event for the Division II and NAIA levels. This year, more than 8,000 players took part in a total of 60 regional tournaments to gain entry into the ITA Oracle Cup field.

Daugherty got the day started by defeating Ella Riddle of Linfield in straight sets, with both sets going to a tiebreaker, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).

"Kate battled an enormous amount of ups and downs in singles all match long," said head coach Billy Porter. "Starting up 5-1 to down 5-6 and finding a way to take the first set was huge."

Daugherty teamed up with Bowers later in the afternoon to take down Whitman's Hanna Greenberg and Andrea Gu, 6-3, 6-2.

"Kate and Esther weathered the storm of a hyper aggressive team that played forward tennis on every point," said Coach Porter. "Their patience and discipline won them the match and opportunity to make the main draw."

In singles, Daugherty will advance into the quarterfinal, where she will take on the No. 3 seed, Ysabel Gonzalez Rico, of Emory University. Daugherty and Bowers advance into the quarterfinal round of doubles where they will take on the bracket's No. 4 seed from Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) University.

Daugherty will start things off at 9:00 AM in singles action before being joined by Bowers for her match at 1:30. The duo is guaranteed to play three matches throughout the weekend and will finish in the top eight overall in their respective division.