Oklahoma, Virginia Knock Out No. 2 Seeds in 4-3 Quarterfinal Thrillers at Women's D-I National Team Indoor Championships; Wake Forest Men Beat Columbia; Hance, Pareja Fall in ITF J300 Finals in Peru; Johns Reaches Second Straight $15K Final
Friday, the first day of the ITA Division I Women's Team Indoor Championships featured several close matches, but no 4-3 matches, which set the standard for drama in the dual match season.
The first two quarterfinals Saturday made up for that and then some, with both upsets decided not just in the last match on, but in third set tiebreakers in those matches.
Virginia's Sara Ziodato and Oklahoma's Emma Staker delivered the victories that put their teams in Monday's semifinals, with each saving match points before ultimately prevailing.
No. 6 seed Oklahoma's victory over No. 2 seed Michigan would not have been possible without the doubles point, which the Sooners took with wins at lines 1 and 3.
The teams split the first sets in singles, meaning Michigan needed to hold on to their advantage and win a third set somewhere to advance, and it was sophomore Reese Miller, at line 4, who got to a third set, the only one of the match.
Michigan got wins and 1, 3 and 5, while Oklahoma took the matches at 2 and 6, with the Sooners' Alina Shcherbinina pulling her team even with a win over Piper Charney at line 2, turning all the attention to Staker and Miller at line 4. Miller had held a 2-0 third set lead, but Staker got the break back and then earned another break with Miller serving at 3-4. Serving for the match at 5-3, Staker, a senior, went up 30-0, but Miller won the next four points to stay alive, only to face a deciding point/match point in her 4-5 service game. She won that, with a forehand winner, then broke Staker at 15-40 to get her opportunity to serve out the match, which she was unable to do. Down 15-40 after an overrule by the Electronic Line Calling system, Miller, a sophomore, earned a match point at deuce, but netted a forehand to send the match to a tiebreaker.
Staker went up 4-1, but Miller got the mini-break back to make it 4-all. Staker then came up big, putting away a volley at the net for 5-4, then smacking a forehand winner for 6-4. Miller continued to hit out, but it was Staker that took a chance coming forehand, and a reflex lob she struck on the passing shot was perfect, safely over Miller's head for the win.
Oklahoma[6] 4, Michigan[2] 3Doubles:
1. Piper Charney and Jessica Bernales(MICH) d. Cara Mester and Alina Shcherbinina(OU) 6-2
2. Julia Garcia Ruiz and Chloe Noel(OU) d. Julia Fliegner and Reese Miller(MICH) 6-0
3. Salakthip Ounmang and Gloriana Nahum(OU) d. Ava Bruno and Lily Jones(MICH) 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. Julia Fliegner(MICH) d. Julia Garcia Ruiz(OU) 6-4, 6-2
2. Alina Shcherbinina(OU) d. Piper Charney(MICH) 7-5, 6-4
3. Lily Jones(MICH) d. Salakthip Ounmang(OU) 6-2, 6-3
4. Emma Staker(OU) d. Reese Miller(MICH) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6(4)
5. Emily Sartz-Lunde(MICH) d. Gloriana Nahum(OU) 6-1, 7-5
6. Ava Catanzarite(OU) d. Jessica Bernales(MICH) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 5, 2, 4
While that thriller was playing out in Champaign, the match between No. 3 Virginia and No. 2 North Carolina in Evanston was heading for an eerily similar conclusion. It was not quite as far along as the Michigan - Oklahoma match however because it had been delayed by Tennessee's 4-3 win over Pepperdine in the preceding consolation match. North Carolina, who had lost 4-3 to Virginia last month in Charlottesville, again claimed the doubles point, but again was unable to find three singles points against the Cavaliers, although they had six team match points that they could not convert in the last two matches on court. Virginia was also playing, for the second day in a row, without their No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles player Elaine Chervinsky, who was on the sidelines.
After Tatum Evans had given the Tar Heels a 3-2 lead, the matches that remained were tossups, with Ziodato and Theadora Rabman at 2-2 in the third set at line 2, and Karolina Kozakova of Virginia and Alanis Hamilton at 4-4 in the third at line 4.
Hamilton had to save two break points serving at 4-all, but she survived, and had three team match points when Kozakova went down 15-40 serving at 4-5. Hamilton called a first serve out that was overruled by the ELC system on appeal from Kozakova to save the first match point, then put away a forehand to get to a deciding point. The freshman from Switzerland then hit a good first serve that Hamilton couldn't get back to take the deciding point.
Hamilton was broken on a deciding point in the next game and Kozakova served out the final game to make the team score 3-3.
Rabman had just won a deciding point to take a 5-3 lead over Ziodato, but she was unable to convert her first match point at 40-30, with Ziodato coming up with a forehand winner to save the first, then taking the deciding point with an overhead winner.
Rabman earned her third and final match point in the next game, the fourth straight game that had gone to a deciding point, with her forehand error requiring no heroics from Ziodato. Rabman was then broken at 15, but Ziodata couldn't close out the next game, with Rabman coming up with a forehand winner at 30-40.
Ziodato took the first three points of the tiebreaker, Rabman rallied for the next three, but Ziodato took over from there, winning the last four points, the final three courtesy of unforced errors from Rabman. The Cavaliers will face top seed Georgia in Monday's semifinals.
Doubles:
1. Reese Brantmeier and Alanis Hamilton(UNC) v Karolina Kozakova and Melodie Collard(UVA) 5-3, unf.
2. Susanna Maltby and Carson Tanguilig(UNC) d. Martina Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu(UVA) 6-3
3. Tatum Evans and Theadora Rabman(UCN) d. Margaret Navarro and Sara Ziodato(UVA) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2
1. Reese Brantmeier(UNC) d. Annabelle Xu(UVA) 7-6(5), 6-4
2. Sara Ziodato(UVA) d. Theadora Rabman(UNC) 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-6(3)
3. Isabelle Lacy(UVA) d. Carson Tanguilig(UNC) 6-2, 6-3
4. Karolina Kozakova(UVA) d. Alanis Hamilton(UNC) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
5. Tatum Evans(UNC) d. Martina Genis Salas(UVA) 6-3, 7-5
6. Melodie Collard(UVA) d. Claire Hill(UNC) 7-5, 7-5
Order of finish: 3, 6, 1, 5, 4, 2
The No. 2 seeds at both sites failed to reach the semifinals, but the No. 1 seeds advanced this evening, with Texas A&M set to face Oklahoma after getting past a young and stubborn Texas team 4-2.
Doubles:
1. Ashton Bowers and Ariana Pursoo(TEX) d. Mary Stoiana and Lucciana Perez(TAMU) 6-2
2. Daria Smetannikov and Mia Kupres(TAMU) d. Slama Drugdovaa and Carmen Herea(TEX) 7-6(3)
3. Jeanette Mireles and Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d. Eszter Meri and Sabina Zeynalova(TEX) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. Mary Stoiana(TAMU) d. Sabina Zeynalova(TEX) 1-6, 6-1, 6-2
2. Nicole Khirin(TAMU) d. Eszter Meri(TEX) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
3. Ashton Bowers(TEX) d. Mia Kupres(TAMU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Lucciana Perez(TAMU) v Carmen Herea(TEX) 6-7(5), 7-5, unf.
5. Daria Smetannikov(TAMU) d. Salma Drugdova(TEX) 6-1, 6-3
6. Ariana Pursoo(TEX) d. Lexington Reed(TAMU) 7-6(4), 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 2
Georgia, the No. 1 seed at Northwestern, defeated No. 5 seed Auburn 4-1, with the bottom of the lineup and 2024 spring NCAA finalist Anastasia Lopata at line 2 getting the three singles points for the Bulldogs. The rematch of the 2024 fall singles final between Auburn's DJ Bennett and champion Dasha Vidmanova of Georgia went unfinished, with Bennett leading 7-6(4), 4-3 at the clinch.
Georgia will face Virginia in Monday's semifinal.
Doubles:
1. Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco(UGA) d. Ava Hrastar and DJ Bennett(AUB) 6-3
2. Anastasiia Lopata and Guillermina Grant(UGA) v Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat(AUB) 5-5, unf.
3. Ayesegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry(UGA) d. Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia(AUB) 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 1
Singles:
1. DJ Bennett(AUB) v Dasha Vidmanova(UGA) 7-6(4), 4-3, unf.
2. Anastasiia Lopata(UGA) d. Ava Hrastar(AUB) 6-4, 6-3
3. Angella Okutoyi(AUB) d. Mell Reasco(UGA) 6-3, 7-5
4. Aysegul Mert(UGA) v Merna Refaat(AUB) 6-3, 1-6, 4-5, unf.
5. Guillermina Grant(UGA) d. Ava Esposito(AUB) 6-2, 6-3
6. Sofia Rojas(UGA) d. Alice Battesti(AUB) 6-3, 7-6(2)
Order of finish: 5, 2, 3, 6
Sunday is an off day for the semifinalists, with the only matches taking place tomorrow the third and final consolation matches of the tournament. For the schedule and all streaming and scoring links, see the ITA tournament page.
There was another Top 10 battle today in men's Division I, with No. 2 Wake Forest defeating No. 6 Columbia 5-2 in New York. After the Demon Deacons took a routine doubles point, which has been a strength all season, the singles were extraordinarily close, with five of the six singles matches going to three sets before DK Suresh clinched for Wake Forest with a 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Nicolas Kotzen at line 2. See this recap for the complete box score.
The finals of the ITF J300 Inka Bowl in Peru were played today, with both Americans participating seeing their winning streaks come to an end. No. 3 seed Keaton Hance, the Barranquilla J300 champion who had won 12 matches in a row(including qualifying) at J300s in South America, lost to top seed Alejandro Arcila of Colombia 6-1, 6-3. Top seed Julieta Pareja, who had not lost a set in her nine consecutive J300 wins the past three weeks, fell to No. 4 seed Giulia Popa of Romania 6-3, 6-2. Pareja also lost in the girls doubles final Friday, with No. 3 seeds Popa and Dali Supova of Slovakia defeating top seeds Pareja and Allegra Korpanec Davies of Great Britain 6-0, 6-0. No. 4 seeds Volodymyr Gurenko of Canada and Arturs Zagars of Latvia won the boys doubles title, beating unseeded Romeo Arcuschin of Argentina and Vito Darderi of Italy 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 in the final.
At the men's $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit tournament in Sunrise, Florida, Garrett Johns, last week's $15K champion in Palm Coast, has advanced to another final. The eighth-seeded Johns, an former All-American at Duke, defeated unseeded Lorenzo Joaquin Rodriguez of Argentina 6-3, 6-4 for his ninth consecutive victory. He will play unseeded Bruno Kuzuhara, the former ITF junior No. 1 and 2022 Australian Open boys champion, who reached his first Pro Circuit final since September of 2023 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 5 seed Tyler Zink(Georgia, Oklahoma State).
The doubles title went to the third-seeded Canadian team of Juan Carlos Aguilar(Texas A&M, TCU) and Taha Baadi(Wake Forest, Kentucky). They defeated Alex and Miles Jones 4-6, 6-2, 10-4 in the final. It's the 16th Pro Circuit doubles title for Aguilar, the second for Baadi.
In WTA and ATP tournaments this weekend, Ashlyn Kreuger made her first WTA 500 final in Abu Dhabi, with the 20-year-old Texan, who won the USTA girls 18s title in 2021, falling to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 in the final.
At the ATP 500 Dallas Open, which was stacked with top Americans, the final will be between Canadian Denis Shapovalov and Casper Ruud of Norway. The unseeded Shapovalov defeated No. 3 seed and defending champion Tommy Paul 7-5, 6-3 in today's semifinals.
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