LAKELAND, Fla. – The semifinals are set at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Championships, with Nova Southeastern's Natalie Espinal and Nika Kovar making up half of the remaining field following a combined four more victories on day two of the tournament Saturday. Espinal and Kozar also remain in the mix for the doubles title, as they each cruised into the quarterfinal round following 8-1 wins with their respective playing partners, Chantal Nosievici and Zala Dovnik.

Doubles Play
Both doubles teams rolled to dominant 8-1 victories Saturday morning, with Zala Dovnik and Nika Kozar taking down Celina Ermann and Nina Furmaniak of Saint Leo, while Natalie Espinal and Chantal Nosievici defeated Lynn's Barbora Cibakova and Giorgia Pigato.

Each duo will now advance to Sunday's quarterfinal round, where Dovnik and Kozar will face Embry-Riddle's Julia Mautner and Alessia Tripaldelli, prior to Espinal and Nosievici squaring off against Barry's Jil Engelmann and Angela Leweurs.
 
Singles Play
Seeded as the tournament's No. 3 player, Espinal has taken care of business to this point, and on Saturday defeated Marta Vicens Miguel of Saint Leo by a score of 6-2, 6-4 before knocking off West Alabama's Hania Franco in a battle, 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.

Espinal will now meet top-seed Deniz Khazan of Barry in Sunday's semifinal round at 1:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Kozar made quick work of Valdosta State's Magda Tuells Bonet, 6-0, 6-1, in the Round of 16. She then upset No. 2 seed Raquel Amaro of Christian Brothers, 7-5, 6-2, to earn a bid into the second semifinal versus Barry's Kim Moosbacher.

Nosievici dropped her Round of 16 matchup against West Alabama's Katia de la Garza, 6-4, 6-1.

Up Next 
Doubles play will begin at 9 a.m. on Sunday, with singles slated to follow at 1:30 p.m. For coverage, visit the schedule page, or follow the Sharks on Instagram and Twitter at @NSU_WTennis.