PENSACOLA, Fla. – Nova Southeastern women's tennis opened up its fall schedule on Friday in the opening day of competition at the ITA South Regional Championships, getting things strated on a high note on West Florida's courts at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson and Roger Scott Tennis Centers. The Sharks picked up seven wins to make some big moves on the first day.
 
Singles Play
Coming in as one of the eight seeded singles players, reigning Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year Natalie Espinal opened her second fall with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Mississippi College's Aneta Golawska. Coming hot into the second round, Espinal defeated Montevallo's Cyba Ozzor 6-0 in the initial set before drawing a retirement to advance to Saturday's third round.
 
Senior Sarah Wardenburg earned an opening-round 6-4, 6-2 singles win over Florida Southern's Laura Vetter, and forced a third set before falling to Saint Leo's Kristyna Jurkova, 6-3, 2-6, 10-7. Senior Daniela Obando opened on a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic's Yulia Russu, keeping things rolling into the third round after topping Valdosta State's Estee Widdershoven, 6-0, 6-1.
 
Doubles Play
Ranked second among the seeded tandems, Espinal and Wardenburg opened up doubles action with an 8-1 win over Spring Hill's Jamie Martin and Linn Boning, and are slated to face Lynn's Eliska Petrackova and Nora Liga on Saturday. Obando and senior Isabella Lowrey also produced an opening-round doubles victory on an 8-7 (4) toppling of PBA's Yulia Russu and Shelby Groeneveld. The duo will face West Alabama's Haina Franco and Sarah Mansei on Saturday.
 
Overall, the Sharks opened the ITA South Regional with a 7-2 record. The tournament will continue at 9:00 a.m. Saturday and is scheduled to run through to Monday.