ITA Atlantic Regional – Tournament Central
LYNCHBURG, Va. –The Virginia women’s tennis team had a pair of doubles teams advance at the ITA Atlantic Regional on Friday with both teams in competition advancing to the second round in the event hosted by Liberty.
The sophomore duo of Lizzie Baker (Washington, D.C.) and Maya Das (Potomac, Md.) advanced with an 8-3 victory over a team from Longwood, while the pairing of juniors Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas) and Camille Favero (Sacramento, Calif.) advanced with an 8-5 win over a doubles team from Richmond.
The two doubles teams will join two more Virginia pairings in the second-round of action on Saturday. The pairing of senior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) and freshman Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) received a bye on Friday as the No. 2 overall seed, while the pairing of junior Chloe Gullickson (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and freshman Amber O’Dell (New Milford, N.J.) also received a bye as the No. 3 overall seed.
Doubles play will continue on Saturday afternoon, while singles play at the event will begin in the morning with the first-round of competition starting at 9 a.m. Competing in singles for the Cavaliers will be Bleser, Favero, Gullickson, Kelley and O’Dell. Kelley is the No. 2 overall seed in singles, while Gullickson is the No. 12 seed and O’Dell is the No. 16 seed.
The tournament runs through the weekend with the finals in both doubles and singles set to be played on Tuesday (Oct. 16).
The winners will advance to compete at the Oracle/ITA National Fall Championships from Nov. 7-11 in Surprise, Ariz. Players can also play their way into an at-large berth with their performances in regional play.
The Oracle ITA National Fall Championships features 128 of the nation’s top collegiate singles players (64 men and 64 women) and 64 doubles teams (32 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams). In its second year, having replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, it is the lone event on the collegiate tennis calendar to feature competitors from all five divisions playing in the same tournament.
First Round Doubles Matches
Baker/Das (UVA) def. Almiron/Breunig (Longwood), 8-3
Bleser/Favero (UVA) def. Dunbar/Marshall (Richmond), 8-5
No. 2 seed Kelley/Munera (UVA) – Bye
No. 3 seed Gullickson/O’Dell (UVA) – Bye