Oct. 9, 2015
AUBURN, Ala. -- Pleun Burgmans, Andie Dikosavljevic and Paula de Man of the Auburn women's tennis team participated in the prestigious 2015 Riviera/ITA All-American Championship in Palisades, Calif., this past week. Dikosavljevic competed in pre-qualifying singles while Burgmans played in qualifying singles and teamed up with de Man in main draw doubles.
On Tuesday, Burgmans lost the first round of qualifying singles to No. 24 Brianna Morgan of Florida 6-4, 7-6 (5), but picked up two wins against ranked opponents in the qualifying singles back draw on Wednesday. In the first round, she beat No. 54 Sophie Watts of Fresno State 6-2, 6-3, and then turned around to beat No. 63 Clementina Riobueno of Miami (Florida) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
"Pleun played some great tennis this week," said head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. "She had a tough match with a top Florida player and after that she rebounded well to finish off, beating to ranked opponents."
No. 28 Burgmans and de Man teamed up in the main draw doubles and pulled off a big victory for Auburn, beating No. 34 Maddie Lipp and Alex Chatt from Northwestern (8-4) before falling to No. 8 Matea Cutura and Christine Maddox from Pepperdine 8-7 (4).
"I didn't really know what to expect from them in doubles since this is an entirely new duo," said Longbotham Meisner. "I challenged them to prove themselves as a team and they really stepped it up and played a high level of tennis. To beat a top 20 team in the first round and be only a couple of points away from beating a top 10 team in your first tournament together is an outstanding starting point for these two and I am very proud of them."
"I felt we had a great showing in both singles and doubles," head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner said.
Dikosavljevic opened Saturday and lost in the opening round to Rianna Valdes of USC (6-2. 2-6, 6-0).
Auburn women's tennis will be in action this weekend, Oct. 9-11, in the Mercer Invitational and will return home on Oct. 15-19 when they host the USTA/ITA Regional Championships.