Riske, Pegula make qualifying draw in Charleston

Onetime Hilton Head Island products Jessica Pegula and Alison Riske have been included in the qualifying draw for next month’s Volvo Car Open, seeking one of eight berths into the main draw for the WTA event outside Charleston.

Qualifying starts April 2 at Daniel Island, with players needing to win twice to punch their ticket for a main draw that includes Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens and Venus Williams.

Riske is coming off a run to the semifinals of a Challenger event in San Antonio, which followed a one-round stay at the BNP Paribas Open in California. The former Van Der Meer Academy student also made it to the final of a January event in Shenzen, China, before losing to top seed Agnieszka Radwanska.

Pegula, a former Smith Stearns student who reached the U.S. Open’s second round last August, is seeking to get into just her second main draw in 2016. She reached the semifinals at a Challenger event in Maui, but otherwise has been unable to emerge from qualifying.

Both players were part of the main draw last year in Charleston, though each found a quick exit in the opening round.

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Riske, Pegula make qualifying draw in Charleston."