Texas State tennis sent six singles players and three doubles pairs to the ITA Texas Regional Championships held at Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
Graduate student Callie Creath, senior Sofia Fortuno, senior Maria Lora, junior Emily Niers, junior Ireland Simme and senior Kiana Graham were the six athletes who made the trip to Fort Worth. With all the athletes taking part in both the singles and doubles competitions, here’s how they went for the Bobcats:
Singles:
Callie Creath:
Create earned a first-round bye in qualifying and used that to prepare for her next matchup against Tarleton State freshman Maria Castano, which she won in straight sets, 6-4 and 7(8)-6(6). In the main draw, Creath lost her opening-round matchup in straight sets, 0-6 and 3-6, against Baylor freshman Wenfei Yu. In the first two rounds of the consolation bracket, Creath had a bye and an injury to an opponent. In round 16, Creath lost in straight sets, 6(2)-7(7) and 2-6, vs. North Texas junior Marina Adati.
Sofia Fortuno:
Fortuno started the tournament with two intriguing qualifying matchups, winning the first in straight sets against Abilene Christian junior Maria Cascos 6-1 and 7(7)-6(3). In her second matchup, Fortuno and Rice sophomore Nithesa Selvaraj split the first two sets 6-2 and 6(5)-7(7). Fortuno handled Selvaraj 6-3 in the third set to win the match and move on to the next round. In the main draw, Fortuno lost in straight sets against SMU freshman Sophie Llewellyn, with both ending 2-6. Fortuno was set to compete in the consolation bracket but withdrew.
Maria Lora:
Lora had a tough first qualifying matchup, losing in straight sets, 1-6 and 2-6 against Tarleton State junior Ximena Morales. After her loss, Lora competed in the consolation bracket, winning her only matchup in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-4, versus University of Texas sophomore Maddy MacNeille.
Emily Niers:
Niers started the qualifying well, winning her opening fixture in a highly contested matchup against North Texas sophomore Carolina Laydner in straight sets, 7(7)-6(4) and 6-4. Niers needed a win in her second match to qualify for the main draw but could not overcome Tarleton State freshman Duru Kuscu in two sets with scores of 2-6 and 1-6 to end her tournament.
Ireland Simme:
Simme lost a difficult qualifying meeting with Rice sophomore Anushka Ashar in two back-and-forth sets of 4-6 and 3-6. However, Simme closed out the tournament strongly, winning her consolation bracket match in straight sets against Sam Houston State sophomore Sara Sadadinovic with scores of 7-6 on a tiebreaker of 7-4 and a second set of 6-4.
Kiana Graham:
Graham made her third consecutive appearance in the main draw of the competition, and her first singles match was against University of Houston sophomore Iva Sepa. Graham won in a three-set thriller, 6-3, 4-6, and 7-5. In her next round of 32, Graham could not keep up with Baylor University senior Cristina Tiglea, who won in straight sets, 4-6 and 1-6.
Doubles:
Ireland Simme and Emily Niers:
Simme and Niers could not make it out of the first round of the main draw, losing 8-1 in the round of 64 matchup after coming up against a formidable pair in North Texas sophomores Lily Schultz and Stanislava Shulzhenko. In the consolation draw, the pair earned a bye in the qualifying and first rounds of the bracket. In the round of 16, Simme and Niers won after an injury to their opponent and came up against Morales and Castano in the quarterfinals. The two athletes fought hard in this matchup but fell short in a 5-8 defeat.
Sofia Fortuno and Maria Lora:
Fortuno and Lora continued their success in their opening-round matchup against Aaliyah Hohmann and Jacqueline Schnabel from Sam Houston State University. The Bobcat pair won the match 8-2 and moved on to the round of 32. In their next match, Fortuno and Lora could not keep up with senior Avelina Sayfetdinova and junior Mariia Hlahola, both from Texas Tech University, who won 8-1.
Kiana Graham and Callie Creath:
Graham and Creath had a bye in the first round of the main draw. The Bobcat pairing put up a great fight in a competitive second-round match against Houston junior Gabriela Cortes and Houston sophomore Heta Nuutinen. The set was tied 7-7 going into the tiebreaker, where the Bobcats were slightly outmatched and lost 2-7.
The pairing took part in the consolation bracket, and in the round of 32, they defeated University of Texas at Arlington pair senior Nika Novikova and freshman Maria Araoz-Gosn 8-3. In the round of 16, Graham and Creath fell to Stephen F. Austin State pair sophomore Ksenia Mamontova and junior Jemma Cave 4-8 in a tough-fought match.
The Texas State women’s tennis team secured 10 total wins in the ITA Texas Regional Championships, eight coming from singles and two from doubles play. The Bobcats will attempt to defend home territory in their next tournament as they host the Bobcat Invitational.
The tournament will be held on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 at the Bobcat Tennis Complex.
