ROME, Ga. – Going head-to-head against some of the most elite national competition in NCAA Division II, Nova Southeastern women's tennis players Natalie Espinal and Sarah Wardenburg caught fire early on the opening day of tournament action at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's 2019 ITA Cup at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College. Already in unprecedented waters, Sharks singles and doubles both advanced with three wins on the day.
 
Invited student-athletes at the 2019 ITA Cup are battling for an opportunity to qualify for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, where they will compete in the same tournament as the nation's top Division I players. At the Rome Tennis Center this weekend, the tournament features the top 16 performers in both singles and doubles play.
 
Singles Play
The now-sophomore and runner-up at last month's ITA South Regional in Pensacola, Espinal (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) thrust herself right into the national spotlight, overcoming the 45-degree temperatures at opening serve to defeat ITA Central Regional Champion and tournament No. 1 overall seed Kim Moosbacher in a commanding 6-1, 6-1 result. The Oklahoma Baptist senior All-American finished last year at No. 7 nationally and was selected as the Great American Conference Women's Player of the Year. Espinal, on the other hand, was named Sunshine State Conference and South Region Freshman and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
 
The upset victory moves Espinal into the final eight with a 10:45 a.m. matchup on Friday against Azusa Pacific's Anna Savchenko.
 
Doubles Play
In the afternoon lineup, Espinal joined with partner Wardenburg (Sr., Waikato, New Zealand) in collecting a key pair of victories to reach the tournament's semifinal. In the opening round, the Sharks duo again faced chilly conditions with a 67-degree first serve and bested University of Charleston pair Haarini Balakrishnan and Katie Swann, 6-1, 6-1. In the late afternoon match, the NSU tandem struck again, knocking off No. 2-seeded Nikki Boyar and Paola Landin from Central Oklahoma, rallying back to a 6-4, 6-3 win.
 
The pair of wins secured NSU another spot in the semis, back in action at 3:15 p.m. Friday against Angelo State's Valentina Gonzalez and Ena Ovcina, who secured an upset of their own with a 10-8 tiebreaker win over No. 3 seed Jill van den Dungen and Catarina Zheng out of Southwest Baptist.
 
Direct From Coach Doug Neagle
"Great event and venue here at the ITA Cup, and an outstanding start for both Natalie & Sarah. We had some cold temperatures to start today, but that didn't slow up Natalie at all in her singles. These two then carried that same energy into doubles. Their quarterfinal doubles match was against two tough players from Central Oklahoma and they just found a way to win. They came back from down 0-4 in the first set and fought their way back. Proud of them!"
 
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