Chris Day, CMU Athletic Communications

Valentina Brienza advanced to Friday's 'A' Singles Consolation Round of 16 after going 1-1 in singles on Thursday's first day of the ITA South Central Regionals.

Women's Tennis 9/19/2024 10:49:00 PM Ben Greenberg, Sports Communications Director

Women's Tennis Performs Well on First Day of South Central Regional Championships

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Colorado State University Pueblo women's tennis team began play here Thursday on the first day of the three-day ITA South Central Regional Championships hosted by Dallas Baptist University.

CSU Pueblo sent six competitors to compete at this year's ITA South Central Regional Championships as all six competed in both singles and doubles competition on Thursday. The six competitors for the Pack were junior Margot Aebischer (Etupes, France/Eastern Arizona College), senior Valentina Brienza (Rionero in Vulture, Italy/University of District of Columbia), senior Marta Garcia (Alcala de Hernares, Spain/Cardinal Stritch), freshman MaKayla Martinez (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo County), sophomore Mariangel Nunez (Weston, Fla./Unidad Educativa Padre Claret) and sophomore Yelena Travica (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Maples Collegiate).

Thursday's singles competition was highlighted by the Pack's six players posting a combined record of 2-10 as Brienza advanced to an 'A' Draw Consolation Round of 16 match on Friday morning and Travica also advanced to the quarterfinals of the 'B' Draw Consolation Singles on Friday morning.

In the 'A' Singles Draw, Brienza opened with a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Dallas Baptist's Madalyn Smelley, before collecting a 6-3, 6-1 in the 'A' Draw Consolation Round of 32 against Angelo State's Ivet Stancheva to advance to Friday morning 'A' Draw Consolation Round of 16 match at 8 a.m. against UT-Tyler's Elisa Bahagiar.

Aebischer also competed in 'A' Draw Singles and fell in the first round to Lubbock Christian's Mariia Koroleva, 6-0, 6-2 and then lost in the 'A' Draw Consolation Round of 32 to St. Mary's (Texas) Elisa Rodriguez, 6-3, 6-0.

Garcia opened her 'A' Draw Singles match with a 6-2, 7-5 loss in the first round to Dallas Baptist's Isabella Quintero and then suffered an 'A' Draw Consolation Round of 32 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville's Annalena Noll, 6-1, 6-1.

The final Pack player that competed in the 'A' Draw Singles was Nunez as she fell in the first round to Midwestern State's Anda Ghinga, 6-1, 6-1 and then suffered an 'A' Draw Consolation Round of 32 loss to Cameron's Magda Wawrowska, 6-2, 6-0.

Meanwhile, in the 'B' Draw Singles, Travica lost in the first round to Chloe O'Connor of UT-Dallas, 6-4, 6-1, before picking up a win in the 'B' Draw Consolation Round of 16 against Lubbock Christian's Sophia Shepherd, 6-0, 6-1 to advance to Friday's 9:30 a.m. 'B' Draw Consolation quarterfinal match against Anouk Terpin from Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Martinez opened the 'B' Draw Singles with a first round loss to Lubbock Christian's Maizy Adams, 6-0, 6-2, before falling in the 'B' Draw Consolation Round of 16 to Texas A&M-Kingsville's Elise Broden, 6-0, 6-0.

In doubles, the Pack had two teams competing in the 'A' Draw and another in the 'B' Draw. The Pack's three teams posted a combined record of 0-5 in doubles on Thursday.

In the 'A' Doubles Draw, Brienza and Garcia fell to Angelo State's duo of Avery Durham and Eva Schwartz, 8-1, and then suffered a loss in the 'A' Doubles Consolation Round of 16 to UT-Tyler's Kanika Sivaraman and Paula Castellanos, 8-0.

The other 'A' Doubles Draw team was Aebischer and Nunez as they fell in the first round to Dallas Baptist's duo of Leonie Schondelmaier and Emily Buchanan, 8-1 and then suffered an 'A' Doubles Consolation Round of 16 setback to UT-Tyler's Yona Bancarel and Allison Schwartz, 8-0.

In the 'B' Doubles Draw, Martinez partnered with Travica and lost in the first round to Lubbock Christian's duo of Alexandra Luders and Maizy Adams, 8-1, but their 'B' Draw Consolation quarterfinal match with UT-Dallas' Tisha Nakakes and Chloe O'Connor was pushed back until Friday morning.

Day two of the ITA Regional kicks off Friday at 8 a.m.

Singles
'A' Draw – Round of 64
Mariia Koroleva (LCU) def. Margot Aebischer (CSUP), 6-0, 6-2
Madalyn Smelley (DBU) def. Valentina Brienza (CSUP), 6-3, 7-5
Isabella Quintero (DBU) def. Marta Garcia (CSUP), 6-2, 7-5
Anda Ghinga (MSU) def. Mariangel Nunez (CSUP), 6-1, 6-1

'A' Draw – Consolation Round of 32
Elisa Rodriguez (St. Mary's) def. Aebischer (CSUP), 6-3, 6-0
Brienza (CSUP) def. Ivet Stancheva (ASU), 6-3, 6-1
Annalena Noll (TAMUK) def. Garcia (CSUP), 6-1, 6-1
Magda Wawrowska (Cameron) def. Nunez (CSUP), 6-2, 6-0

'A' Draw Consolation – Round of 16
Brienza (CSUP) vs. Elisa Bahagiar (UTT), 8 a.m. Friday

'B' Draw – Round of 32
Chloe O'Connor (UTD) def. Yelena Travica (CSUP), 6-4, 6-1
Maizy Adams (LCU) def. MaKayla Martinez (CSUP), 6-0, 6-1

'B' Draw Consolation – Round of 16
Elise Broden (TAMUK) def. Martinez (CSUP), 6-0, 6-0
Travica (CSUP) def. Sophia Shepherd (LCU), 6-0, 6-1

'B' Draw Consolation – Quarterfinals
Travica (CSUP) vs. Anouk Terpin (TAMUK), 9:30 a.m. Friday

Doubles
'A' Draw – Round of 32
Avery Durham/Eva Schwartz (ASU) def. Brienza/Garcia (CSUP), 8-1
Leonie Schonelmaier/Emily Buchanan (DBU) def. Aebischer/Nunez (CSUP), 8-1

'A' Draw – Consolation Round of 16
Kanika Sivaraman/Paula Castellanos (UTT) def. Brienza/Garcia (CSUP), 8-0
Yona Bancarel/Allison Schwartz (UTT) def. Aebischer/Nunez (CSUP), 8-0

'B' Draw – Round of 16
Alexandra Luders/Maizy Adams (LCU) def. Martinez/Travica (CSUP), 8-1