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NORFOLK, Va. – Martha Blakely won two matches Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals at the United States Tennis Association/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s Atlantic Region Championships. The event, hosted by Old Dominion University, features some of the top players in the nation and is being held at the Folkes-Stevens Indoor Tennis Center.

Blakely (Jr., Reading, Pa.) won her Round of 32 match, 6-4, 6-0, against Marjorie Baker (Virginia), then upset No. 10 seed Jordaan Sanford (Maryland), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Blakely will battle No. 4 seed Emily Fraser (Virginia) in Sunday’s 9 a.m. quarterfinal with the semifinals scheduled for 11 a.m. Yasmin Hamza (Sr., Cairo, Egypt), the No. 11 seed, defeated Maria Bedard (Penn State), 6-4, 6-4, in her first match, before falling, 7-6 (5), 6-2, to No. 3 seed Lindsey Hardenbergh (Virginia).

Holly Johnson (Sr., Tallahassee, Fla.) defeated Jenny Astbury (Norfolk State), 6-1, 6-0, in a consolation match while Shannon Betts (Jr., Newnan, Ga.) dropped her consolation round match, 6-4, 6-0, versus Jacki Corba (George Washington).

In doubles, Hamza/Johnson, seeded No. 5 and ranked No. 34 nationally, defeated No. 9-16 seed Jordan Hansbrough/Julia Huschke (Maryland), 8-6, and will play 9-16 seed Maria Fuccillo/Rashmi Teltumbde (Virginia) in the quarterfinals Sunday at noon. Betts/Blakely, the No. 8 seeds, lost, 8-6, to No. 9-16 seed Ana Belzunca/Jordaan Sanford (Maryland).

The singles and doubles champions from the NCAA Division I USTA/ITA Regional Championships will advance to the 2010 USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, taking place November 4-7, at the new indoor facilities at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, located in Flushing, N.Y. Columbia University will serve as the tournament host.

Twenty-four USTA/ITA Regional Championships for NCAA Division I men and women are taking place over the last two weekends of October at campuses throughout the country.

Results are available at http://tennislink.usta.com/tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=100947.

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