PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern women's tennis team turned in yet another solid performance on the second day of action at the ITA South Regional Championships, Saturday on West Florida's courts at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson and Roger Scott Tennis Centers. The Sharks picked up six additional wins to bring the two-day total to 13, while sending two doubles tandems and a singles player to the quarterfinals - another to the consolation quarterfinals.
Doubles Play
Kicking off at 9:00 a.m. at Carson, seniors
Daniela Obando and
Isabella Lowrey gutted out another win to reach Sunday's doubles quarterfinal, earning an 8-5 victory over West Alabama's Haina Franco and Sarah Mansei. Showing off why they earned a slot as the second-seeded pair, sophomore
Natalie Espinal and senior
Sarah Wardenburg also made their bid to the quarters with a key 8-3 win over Lynn's Eliska Petrackova and Nora Liga. The quarterfinal matches are slated for 1:00 p.m. Sunday.
Singles Play
Squaring off at Roger Scott in singles, fourth-seeded Espinal again downed Petrackova with a 6-2, 6-1 victory and moved ahead to the quarterfinals to meet seventh-seeded Karolina Silwanowicz from host West Florida. In the quarters, Espinal jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set before the match ended in a Silwanowicz retirement. Espinal rolls to the semifinals for the second straight year to face last year's opponent, reigning ITA Regional Champion and No. 1 nationally ranked player Berta Bonardi, 3:00 p.m. Sunday at Roger Scott.
Lowrey also added another pair of wins for the Sharks, working her way back through the consolation bracket with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-3 over Montevallo's Alba De la Torre, followed by a 3-6,6-4,10-6 defeat of Delta State's Alena Macharova. Lowrey will face Montevallo's Eva Dirr on Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
On Saturday, the Sharks went 6-1 on day two of ITA South Regional action, expanding their record so far to 13-3 record. The tournament will continue at 10:00 a.m. Sunday and is scheduled conclude Monday.
Direct From Coach Doug Neagle
"Solid start for the Sharks this fall. This tournament is always grueling and this year is no exception. These young ladies are playing three times a day in 95-plus heat. These players from all the teams are very impressive the way they push through. Our ladies are all competing so hard and supporting each other. It's nice to see and I feel they are setting the tone for our year to come."
