Sept. 30, 2011
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa senior Sonja Molnar has been selected to compete in the ITA All-American Championships for the third consecutive season. The tournament will be hosted at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Molnar will open play on Oct. 4 and needs to win three matches against the nation’s top players to advance to the Main Draw. Qualifying Draws have not yet been released.
Molnar, ranked No. 65 in the ITA preseason poll, has posted a 5-5 career record at the event. Nine of her 10 matches have been against opponents ranked in the ITA preseason poll. Molnar went 3-3 as a junior (2010) and 2-2 as a sophomore (2009).
Molnar opened her senior season at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 16-18. She swept through the top flight singles and doubles brackets, posting a 4-0 record in both. Molnar won all four of her singles matches in straight sets en route to winning the Mauer Singles Flight. In doubles, Molnar paired with freshman Shelby Talcott to claim the Koivu Doubles Flight bracket.
Molnar has registered 77 singles wins as a Hawkeye and has been a unanimous All-Big Ten selection the past three years. She is one of four players in program history to earn all-conference honors three times. She has been named Big Ten Women’s Tennis Player of the Week on three separate occasions, lastly on March 22, 2011. The Guelph, Ontario, native has made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships doubles tournament. Molnar was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2009 after posting an 18-4 dual match record.