Women’s tennis star, Lauren Proctor, traveled to Malibu, California this past week to compete in the Oracle ITA Masters Tournament.
Proctor is ranked 26th in the nation. She won the first round of her singles against Maria Siopacha, who represented George Washington University. She won with scores of 6-3 and 6-0.
Proctor then went in the round of 16 against Giulia Pairone, who represented University of Michigan, where she won for a second time 2-6, 6-4, 7-6. In her final match, she lost to Fernanda Contreras, who represented Vanderbilt, as she went 1-6, 3-6.
“This tournament that I played is a very lovely and unique tournament because such few players go and the criteria to be there is so specific. It’s always a humbling and honorable experience to be playing this tournament representing Winthrop especially in such a beautiful place like Malibu,” Proctor said.
While Proctor was across the country, she also competed in mixed doubles with fellow Big South Player of the Year, Henry Patten. Patten comes from Big South rival UNC Asheville.
These two joined together and defeated a mixed duo from Mercer and Furman (Stuart/Kozarov) with a final score of 6-3 in the first round.
“This was a cool experience because we are able to play mixed doubles, which never happens at other tournaments or in college,” Proctor said. “Playing with Henry was a lot of fun because he’s such a nice guy and a great player, I really enjoyed that experience with him.”
In the second round of the tournament, they played in the second round on Thursday evening and lost to Lah/Bayerlova (Baylor/Washington State) 5-7.
The next competition for Proctor will be with fellow Lady Eagle, Megan Kauffman, as they compete in the ITA All-American Championship at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, California. This will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 7.
“In regards to the rest of the Fall, I’m super excited to be playing with Megan at the All-Americans because it’s the highest privilege you can have during the Fall. We have worked really hard together to be here and I’m just so excited to share this with her because she’s an extraordinary person and player.” Proctor said. “I’m also very excited for our upcoming season because last year was so good and I’m hoping we can continue with that success and potentially do better. There are so many things to look forward to this year and I’m just really excited to see how it all plays out.”
This senior doubles duo is currently ranked No. 9 in the country.
