When and Where: September 22, 2017 – Flushing, N.Y. (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center)
Juniors Sofia Morais (Porto, Portugal) and Anna Sala (Matadepera, Spain) of the Southern New Hampshire University women's tennis team moved on in the doubles bracket and are each still alive in the singles main draw following the opening day of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional Championships on Friday at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
In the doubles main draw, Morais and Sala, seeded 13th, defeated Goldey-Beacom College's Raquel Morais and Silvia Hortelanopey, 8-4, and will take on Daemen College's Jessica Robins and Gretchen Ringler in the next round. Robins and Ringler doubled up Molloy College's Samantha Bloecker and Christie Catterson, 8-4, to advance.
The 14th seed, junior Kaitlyn Poje (E. Stroudsburg, Pa.) and freshman Casey Burns (Westbrook, Conn.), who was battling an illness, was forced to withdraw prior to its match against Adelphi University's Nicole Kielan and Vanja Savic.
In singles qualifying, Sala beat American International College's Carleyah McLean, 8-1, and then was an 8-5 winner over Goldey-Beacom's Fredrika Regner. She will move on to the main draw face Stonehill's Nicole Downey, who was an 8-3 winner over Merrimack's Roberta Marcos in qualifying. Marcos had advanced with an 8-4 win against sophomore Abbey Killiam (Rowley, Mass).
Burns recorded an 8-1 win over Roberts Wesleyan College's Marine Kennel and then knocked off AIC's Morgan Hill, who earned a first-round bye in the qualifier, 8-1, before being forced to withdraw due to the illness.
Poje squeaked by Bentley University's Katie Brandow, 8-6, before dropping a 9-8 (6-4) heartbreaker to Le Moyne College's Camila Humala.
Junior Rachel Wagner (Framingham, Mass.) dispatched the University of the District of Columbia's Florence Clercx, 8-2, but then bowed out with an 8-3 loss to Le Moyne's Rithika Vajjiravelu.
Senior Lindsay Baum (No. Salem, N.Y.) lost to Molloy's Montaine LeGupil-Maier, 8-1, while sophomore Catherine LaChance (Wilbraham Mass.) was downed by Daemen's Tina Stasiuk, 8-1, and sophomore Phebe Hall (Bennington, Vt.) fell to Molloy's Danielle Bloecker, 8-2.
Morais, who received a bye through qualifying, will open up the main draw against the University of the Sciences' Elkanah Linder, who beat LeGupil-Maier, 8-2.
Up Next:
The ITA East Regional Championships continue Saturday, Sept. 23.
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Doubles Main Draw
#13 Sofia Morais/Anna Sala (SNHU) defeated Raquel Morais/Silvia Hortelanopey (Goldey-Beacom), 8-4
Nicole Kielan/Vanja Savic (Adelphi) defeated #14 Kaitlyn Poje/Casey Burns (SNHU), retired
Singles Qualifying
Casey Burns (SNHU) defeated Marine Kennel (Roberts Wesleyan), 8-1
Casey Burns (SNHU) defeated Morgan Hill (American Int'l), 8-1
Anna Sala (SNHU) defeated Carleyah McLean (American Int'l), 8-1
Anna Sala (SNHU) defeated Fredrika Regner (Goldey-Beacom), 8-5
Kaitlyn Poje (SNHU) defeated Katie Brandow (Bentley), 8-6
Camila Humala (Le Moyne) defeated Kaitlyn Poje (SNHU), 9-8 (6-4)
Rachel Wagner (SNHU) defeated Florence Clercx (District of Columbia), 8-2
Rithika Vajjiravelu (Le Moyne) defeated Rachel Wagner (SNHU), 8-3
Montaine LeGupil-Maier (Molloy) defeated Lindsay Baum (SNHU), 8-1
Danielle Bloecker (Molloy) defeated Phebe Hall (SNHU), 8-2
Tina Stasiuk (Daemen) defeated Catherine LaChance (SNHU), 8-1
Roberta Marcos (Merrimack) defeated Abbey Killiam (SNHU), 8-4
