Box Score Violet Apisah and Vanja Vidanovic's run at the ITA Fall National Championship came to an end on Thursday evening in San Diego, California, falling to the 5-8 seeded Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru in a three-set thriller, 1-6, 6-1, 0-1(3).
It was a slow start out of the gate for the Keiser pair as Komar and Kajuru jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set. The Seahawks won the next game on serve but ultimately dropped the first set 6-1. The second set saw new life for Apisah and Vidanovic as they took control of the match, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Following a game for Oklahoma St., Keiser would close out the set with another 3-0 run to force a super tiebreaker third set. The Cowgirls showed their strength in the tiebreaker, with a 6-0 lead early. The Seahawks bounced back late to cut the deficit, but Komar and Kajuru would go on to win the match, 6-1, 1-6, 1-0(3).
A historic run for the Keiser Seahawks doubles team comes to an end with many program firsts as they are the first to reach the ITA Fall National Championships, the first doubles team to defeat a Power-5, Division-I opponent, and the first doubles team to win the ITA Cup Super Bowl. With all of their efforts, they were named World Tennis Number Players of the Month in the NAIA (Full Story Here).
Head Coach
Daniel Finn said, "Great effort by both teams. It was a back-and-forth fight till the end and we just didn't come out on top in the end. I'll give a lot of credit to the girls from OSU. They played a great tiebreaker and made very few mistakes when the match was on the line. Honestly, that's what made the difference. Obviously, if we could look back on it, we would like to have been a little bit more aggressive and started the tiebreaker a little stronger, but regardless, we are very proud of the girls and the way they clawed their way back into the match after the way we started and got down big early on. The girls went to the show with one of the best teams in all of college tennis and I'm very proud of them."
When asked about the last few weeks coaching the pair, Finn remarked, "I just have a lot of pride in getting to coach these two great young ladies this fall and watch them continue to grow and really believe in themselves. Both of them really bought in to what the coaching staff was preaching and trusted us and themselves more and more at each event, and that's what got them to where they are right now. Playing with the best in the nation. It was a pretty cool experience to get to watch them accomplish something that no tennis player has ever done in our storied women's tennis program. You can say what you want about coaching and what not, but players play, and these girls have played this fall and put our women's tennis program even further on the map at the national level."
On the rest of the fall schedule, Finn answered, "Honestly, it's still right back to work. We will take a little bit of time and reflect on some of the great accomplishments the girls have had since the fall, but it's only the beginning. The girls will still continue to play on their own, put a big emphasis on our conditioning, and make sure that we use this amazing fall to push us forward as a team."
Apisah/Vidanovic
R32: Def. Huang/Dunyon (BYU) (6-1, 6-3)
R16: Lost to (5-8)Komar/Kajuru (Ok. St.) 1-6, 6-1, 0-1(3).
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