Turner, Ruff Reach Quarterfinals at ITA SE Regional

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Two of the four players entered in the singles competition, along with one of the two doubles pairings from Goucher advanced as far as the quarterfinals in their draw this weekend at the 2014 USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships.

Kelsey Turner (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Friends), who was competing in the Blue 4 bracket, and Emily Ruff (Easton, Md./Easton), who represented the Gophers in the Blue 6 draw, were both victorious in the first round: Turner defeated Gina Rutledge from Sweet Briar 6-1, 7-6 (4); Ruff earned a 7-5, 6-2 triumph over Leah Thomsen from Grove City.

The wins advanced both players into the quarterfinals where Turner bowed to Kait Brogan from Mary Washington 6-0, 6-1 and Ruff came up short against Melissa Tomlin from Randolph-Macon 6-3, 6-2.

Alex Walsh (Greens Farm, Conn./Staples) dropped her opening-round match in the Blue 1 bracket to Sarah Haas from Franklin & Marshall 6-0, 6-1, and also the match against Kelsie Grice from Randolph-Macon, 8-2, in the first round of consolations. Leigh Oehrig (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) was dispatched to the consolations in Blue 7 when she suffered a 6-2, 6-2 setback to Samantha Hendricks from Juniata in the first round. Her tournament run ended when she was beaten by Molly Jesseman from Randolph-Macon, 8-5, in the opening round of consolations.

The doubles team of Alice Goldstein-Plesser (Durham, N.C./Durham School of the Arts) and Oehrig made it to the quarterfinals in the Blue 3 draw. A 9-8 (7) victory over Caitlin Adams and Courtnie Lambert from Moravian sent the Goucher pairing ahead to the quarterfinals where it ran into Julie Becker and Janine Jones from Grove City, who prevailed 8-3.

Goucher's only other doubles entry consisted of Ruff and Turner in Blue 2. Following an 8-0 loss in the first round to Stuart Lemay and Madison Parks from Dickinson, the Ruff-Turner combo pinned an 8-6 setback on Sam Babo and Megan Soderlind from Salisbury to make it to the consolation semifinals where it was awarded a win by retirement over Abby Schmidt and Sophia Schuster from Swarthmore.

The Gophers will next host the Goucher Invitational on September 27-28.