Home Tournament to Open Fall Season for Kansas Tennis

Sept. 16, 2010

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas women’s tennis team will return to action this weekend with the KU Invitational. Tennis will open the season squaring off against UMKC, Saint Louis and South Dakota State over three days at the Jayhawk Tennis Facility.

Led by last year’s MVP Ekaterina Morozova, KU returns a veteran squad this season, with six returning players and all but one of last season’s starters. Morozova, a junior, posted a 10-13 dual match record as the Jayhawks’ No. 1 singles player. Teaming with Erin Wilbert at the No. 1 doubles spot, the duo went 11-11 in Big 12 play.

Four incoming freshmen add depth to the 2010-2011 team, as well as sophomore transfer Monica Pezzotti, who comes to KU from South Carolina-Upstate.

Among this year’s rookies is local product Amy Barnthouse. Barnthouse comes to Kansas after a stellar prep career at Notre Dame de Sion in Kansas City, where she was a two-time district champion and helped lead the Storm to a state championship in 2009.

No stranger to KU, Barnthouse is the most recent of a long line of former Jayhawks. Her mother, father and two older sisters all attended KU, as well as several other family members. Her father, Joe, and cousin, Kristi, both played tennis for the Jayhawks and her uncle, Cris, played basketball at Kansas from 1975-1977. The Barnthouse family has succeeded of the courts as well at KU, with her cousin, Nicholas, a 2007 nominee of the prestigious Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, and a former member of the University Scholars Program.

The tournament will run from Friday through Sunday. The Jayhawks will then have a bye week before going up to South Bend, Ind., for more tournament play at Notre Dame.