UW-Whitewater freshman Kalla Schaefer (Madison/Madison Memorial) lost to number one seed Julia Browne of Tufts University (MA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 Thursday in the opening round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championship.  Schaefer will continue play Friday, and the tournament will conclude Saturday.

The ITA Small College Championship includes only eight singles players from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III schools.  Each of the entrants earned a spot in the ITA meet by winning an ITA regional.  Schaefer won the Midwest Regional played at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota and Browne won the New England Regional.  Schaefer is the first UW-W tennis player, male or female, to win the ITA regional. 

After evening the match at 1-1 with the 6-1 victory in the second set, Schaefer was up 4-3 in games, 30-0 in the eighth game with serve, before Browne came back to win.  Browne, a sophomore, is 16-6 this season.

Schaefer, 19-2, will play the loser of  Lorne McManigle of Emory University (GA) versus third-seeded Jennifer Kung of the University of Chicago, a match also played Thursday, Friday at 8:30 a.m. in Mobile. 

For additional information:  Frank Barnes, UW-W coach