Box Score Two days after claiming the ITA Cup National Championship, Violet Apisah and Vanja Vidanovic defeated Yerkezhan Arystanbekova and Arina Babenko of Cowley CC to capture the program's first ITA Cup Super Bowl Championship.


Arystanbekova and Babenko got off to a hot start, winning the first game of the first set. Apisah and Vidanovic responded with six straight games, breaking their opponent's serve three times to take the first set 6-1. The Seahawks were cruising into the second set, taking four of the first five games going into the third changeover. After KU won the sixth game to take a 5-1 lead, Arystanbekova and Babenko rattled off two straight and were on serve down 5-3. The next game would come down to a deuce point and more importantly, a match point for the Seahawks. After a short rally, the Cowley side would not be able to return the volley and Keiser would get the win. Apisah and Vidanovic became just the second ITA Cup National Champions on Saturday and are now the first ITA Cup Super Bowl Champions in program history. The pair have booked their tickets to San Diego, California, where they will play in the ITA National Fall Championships on November 1-5.




Head Coach Daniel Finn said, "First off, it's hard to put into words how proud of these two ladies I am. They made history for this already storied program and did it without dropping a set against the nation's best teams in small colleges. This whole tournament, they met every obstacle with a smile and took what they wanted. Even though they won every match in straight sets, there were still a lot of high-pressure moments that could have changed the course of the matches and they produced each and every time that they got challenged. When one of them struggled, the other was there to pick them up with their play and energy. Today was a once-in-a-career opportunity and it would have been really easy to get nervous and play passive tennis, but they did the opposite and brought strong energy into the match. Now they get an incredible opportunity to represent not only Keiser, but all small colleges as the best doubles team and go compete against the NCAA Division 1 best 32 doubles teams in San Diego at the ITA National Fall Championships. Leading up to the tournament, the prep doesn't charge. Of course, we will work mostly on doubles the next couple of weeks leading into the event, but the mindset has to stay the same. We will take a few days to rest and recover from this grueling event, but from there, we will start right back at it and prepare for this opportunity."



(1) Violet Apisah
Rd. 16: Def. Olivia Scattini (LSU-A) (6-3, 6-0)
QF: Def. Angel Carney (GGC) (6-0, 6-1)
SF: Lost to Katie Visnevscaia (Keiser) (6-7(3), 6-4, 3-6)

Isabella Perez Flores
Rd. 16: Def. Anastasiia Vorobiova (LWC) (6-2, 6-2)
QF: Lost to No. 4 Teodora Jovic (GGC) (4-6, 6-7(1))
bd: Lost to Victoria Vieten (WCU) (2-6, 5-7)

Katie Visnevscaia
Rd. 16: Def. Hanna Lindeboom (WWU) (6-0, 6-1)
QF: Def. Alizee Ripolles (UNOH) (6-0, 6-1)
SF: Def. (1) Violet Apisah (Keiser) (7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3)
C: Lost to (2) Justine Lespes (GGC) (5-7, 7-6(7), 5-7)



 
Apisah/Vidanovic
Rd. 16: Def. Igarashi/Kondo (Union) (7-5, 6-3)
QF: Def. (4) Gunfaus/Ruiz Masip (Westcliff) (6-2, 7-6(4))
SF: Def. Kleijn/Scattini (LSU-A) (6-4, 7-6(3))
C: Def. Benjumeda/Talbi (SCAD-ATL) (6-3, 6-4)
SB SF: Def. Lin/Mikos (UChicago) (walkover)
SB C: Def. Arystanbekova/Babenko (Cowley CC) (6-1, 6-3)
 
Perez Flores/Kononovich
Rd. 16: Def. Beer/Savvides (HCC) (5-7, 6-3, 11-9)
QF: Lost to (1) Langa/Wheatley (XULA) (6-4, 4-6, 3-10)
bd: Def. Viljoen/Drukerova (Union) (3-6, 6-1, 10-7)

 

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