Cullowhee, N.C. -- The Western Carolina women's tennis team heads to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the first Southern Conference Playoff, scheduled for Friday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Champions Club. Each competing SoCon school will send three players and one alternate, as well as two doubles teams, with an opportunity to secure the conference's bid into the upcoming ITA Conference Masters in San Diego, Calif.

Sophomore transfers Keira Stewart and Mariya Dobreva, as well as freshman Jenelle Roberts and junior transfer Mia Miranda, will each compete against singles and doubles teams from conference foes Chattanooga, Wofford, Furman, and ETSU. Stewart, Dobreva, and Roberts are slated as WCU's three active singles competitors, with Miranda filling as an alternate and joining Dobreva on the doubles courts.

The event opens on Friday with doubles play at 9 a.m., with the pairing of Jenelle Roberts and Keira Stewart facing Mercer's Marina De Diego Quinone and Jelena Gojkovic. Mia Miranda and Mariya Dobreva will face ETSU's Allessandra Caceres and Ksenja Rage at the same time. 

Dobreva, Stewart, and Roberts are scheduled to begin singles play at 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, with the quarterfinals slated for a 1:30 p.m. start. Mariya Dobreva drew Furman's Elle Warren in the first round, while Stewart and Roberts are set to face Chattanooga's Rufaro Magarira and Mercer's Jelena Gojkovic, respectively. 

Click HERE for Live Results from the Southern Conference Playoff

The SoCon Playoffs are the fourth event of the fall season for the Catamounts, who have already made appearances at the Emily McNall Classic (Sept. 13-14), the Duckworth Fall Classic (Oct. 3-5), and the ITA Carolina Regionals (Oct. 16-21). WCU has already seen its fair share of SoCon competition in those fall appearances.  

Notably, Jenelle Roberts has a pair of singles wins over SoCon foes, taking down Wofford's Quinn Bernthal at the McNall Classic and Furman's Molly Robinson at the Duckworth Fall Classic. Mariya Dobreva also has a singles win against conference competition, posting a hard-fought three-set 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-3 over Furman's Lily Doherty.  

In doubles play, Keira Stewart and Jenelle Roberts combined for a thrilling 7-6 (6) win over Furman's duo of  Bianca Ceroni and Molly Robinson this fall, with Mia Miranda and Mariya Dobreva posting a strong 6-1 win over Wofford's Ella Suk and Katie Godfree.  

Up Next for The Catamounts:  
Should WCU advance out of the SoCon Playoffs, the Catamounts will take on other conference representatives from around the country at the ITA Conference Master's Championship in San Diego, Calif. on Nov. 6-9.

Four singles players will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship (semifinalists), and three doubles teams will qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship through the Conference Masters (champion, finalist, third place).