TYLER, TEXAS – The UT Tyler women's tennis team will hit the road for the first time this fall as they battle it out at the ITA Regional tournament in Arlington, Texas.
 
LAST TIME OUT
 
The Patriots have participated in one tournament in the fall, co-hosting the Tyler Invite with Tyler Junior College in early September. In that event, the Patriots were led by freshman newcomer Allison Schwartz, who put up a dominant display in Singles Flight 4. She went undefeated over her three matches and dropped just one set. On the doubles side, it was the combination of Brooklyn Ross and Tanvikhaa Saravanan that put together a strong 2-1 record with both of their wins coming by multiple games in the one set.
 
WHAT COACH BIZOT IS SAYING
 
On his return to UT Tyler: "Five years ago UT Tyler was a different university, but Tyler is home for us. For me it was an opportunity to come back to a place where we loved to live and a university we love to be a part of. It's nice to be a part of both teams again and it is an exciting time for me and my family."
 
On the future of the program: "I don't know that there's too many limits to what we can accomplish here. We have fantastic facilities here, and the campus is beautiful and will continue to grow. We have a lot of seniors returning on the women's side and a lot of talent and depth."
 
On the seniors for the program: "I think on the women's side the key is to stay healthy. Are we putting players in a position to stay and play injury free. It's a balance to make sure we are eating properly, recovering properly, in the weight room. The more I can get leadership not just on the tennis court but all of the little things, that will be the difference this season."
 
THE ITA REGIONAL
 
UT Tyler will pack their bags and head for Arlington, Texas and some familiar ground as they will battle it out at the Arlington Tennis Center, which hosted last year's LSC Championship tournament. DBU will be hosting this week's ITA South Central Regional, and 89 players will be participating in the event.
 
On the doubles side of the draw, the Patriots will have three doubles teams in the 32 team main draw. Over on the singles side, six ladies will take on the main draw and one will be in the B draw, highlighted by Tanvikhaa Saravanan and Brooklyn Ross at the 12 and 14 seeds overall.
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE
 
The ITA Regional will provide major stakes in the biggest test of the fall for the women's program. The winners of both singles and doubles draws will automatically qualify into next month's ITA Cup, hosted in Rome, Georgia. 16 players and teams will make up the singles and doubles draws, with eight receiving automatic qualification. The remaining eight players and teams will be selected at-large, with those coming out of the pool of finalists and quarterfinalists from each regional site.
 
LAST YEAR'S RUN
 
At the 2021 ITA Regional Tournament, several Patriots made deep runs that saw them earn consideration for an ITA Cup at-large selection. Brooklyn Ross came up with a tight three set win in her opening round match before putting up a pair of straight set wins to advance into the quarterfinals. On the doubles side, the pair of Chloe Dix and Gaini Ibrasheva rolled into the semifinals on the back of two tiebreaker wins.
 
WRAPPING UP THE FALL
 
This week's ITA Regional will mark the final tournament in the fall season for the Patriots barring anyone advancing into the ITA Cup. That means that the Patriots will begin setting their sights on the spring Dual Match season in which they will look to improve upon their Lone Star Conference Semifinals showing.