MOBILE, Ala. -- Four members of the Lindsey Wilson College men’s and women’s tennis teams opened play today at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championships at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center.

Lindsey Wilson senior and the women’s single’s top-seed Candela Castanon moved into Friday’s national semifinal with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Embry-Riddle (Fla.) University’s Natasa Zoricic.

Castanon faces Benedictine (Kan.) College’s Paulina Ojeda -- the Central-West regional champion -- at 9 a.m. CT on Friday. The finals are scheduled for 7:30 a.m. CT on Saturday.

Castanon and sophomore Jessica Weyreuter advanced into Friday’s national finals with a pair of wins on Thursday.

The top-seeded Lindsey Wilson duo defeated McKendree (Ill.) College’s Maria Occhipinti and Jenny Mennerick 6-1, 6-1 in the national quarterfinals and beat Embry-Riddle’s Zoricic and Hana Im 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals.

Castanon and Weyreuter face Fresno Pacific (Calif.) University’s Anna Karavayeva and Maria Klokotsky -- the Western regional champions -- at 3:30 p.m. CT on Friday in the national final.

On the men’s side, Lindsey Wilson sophomore Freddy Luciani advanced to the national semifinal after defeating McKendree’s Timon Reichelt 6-4, 6-0.

Luciani faces the men’s single’s top-seed, Embry-Riddle’s Mislav Hizak -- who won today 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals -- at 7:30 a.m. CT on Friday. Hizak is the ITA Florida single’s champion.

Luciani and double’s partner, junior Eduard Khan fell in today’s quarterfinals 5-7, 6-7 (4) to Graceland (Iowa) College’s Thomas Brodbeck and Remy Caffardo.

The Blue Raider duo faces Spring Arbor (Mich.) University’s Matt Lantz and Jordan Hoy at 11 a.m. CT on Friday in the consolation bracket.

The four Lindsey Wilson tennis student-athletes captured the ITA Southeast titles on September 22 in Lebanon, Tenn., to advance to the national tournament.