Keiser women's tennis went through day three at the ITA Cup with mixed results but remained alive in the hopes of bringing home another title. The ladies went 1-2 in singles play and remained unbeaten in doubles.
As the field shrinks, the skill level gets higher and the runs for the team can come to an end.
Cato Tangkau and
Eloise de Mooij were faced with top-seeded opponents to begin the day and fell in their singles runs. Tangkau dropped her match to No. 2 Shalimar Talbi of SCAD Atlanta, 6-1, 7-5, while de Mooij fell 6-3, 6-4 to No. 4 Sofia Munoz. The pair will now face each other in the consolation bracket. On the top half of the bracket, No. 1 Apisah continues to dominate, locking up a 6-1, 6-0 win over Jimena Ramirez Llorens of Grace. Apisah will now set her sights on a rematch from the 2024 NAIA National Championship where she faced No. 3 Justine Lespes of Georgia Gwinnett. In doubles, No. 3 de Mooij and
Vanja Vidanovic topped Lespes and Isid Hernandez 6-2, 7-5. The pair found themselves in trouble in the second set but broke back to make it 6-5 and eventually take the match. They will now play against No. 2 Mbali Langa and McKenna Wheatly of Xavier (La.) tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.
When asked about keeping the team mentality when playing an individual tournament, Head Coach
Daniel Finn said, "It's an individual event, but all of the ladies are bought in knowing that while they are playing individually in the tournament, they represent the name on the front of the jersey and take pride as a team when they get the wins. Today you could see the girls felt losses and wins together. At the end of the day, Violet is in the semifinals, and Vanja and Eloise are in the semifinals of doubles, and they are all pushing for each other. The best example of that came in the last match of the day. Vanja and Eloise had their doubles match, and the players (boys included) that were not playing had the option of going back to the hotel to rest but chose to stay to support and give their energy to help. Tomorrow we will need that energy again, but for now, we will go back to the hotel and get some rest."
(1)
Violet Apisah
Rd. 16: Def. Maria Ange Ortega Mateu (LWC) (6-1, 6-1)
QF: Def. Jimena Ramirez Llorens (Grace) (6-1, 6-0)
SF: Vs. Justine Lespes (GGC)
Cato Tangkau
Rd. 16: Def. Line Jensen (Morningside) (6-4, 6-0)
QF: Lost to (2)Shalimar Talbi (SCAD-A) (1-6, 5-7)
Bd: Vs.
Eloise de Mooij (KU)
Eloise de Mooij
Rd. 16: Def. Madeline Monroy (ACU) (6-0, 6-0)
QF: Lost to (4) Sofia Munoz (IWU) (3-6, 4-6)
Bd: Vs.
Cato Tangkau (KU)
(3) de Mooij/Vidanovic
Rd. 16: Def. Rarmirez Llorens/Sandoval (Grace) (6-3, 6-2)
QF: Def. Lespes/Hernandez (GGC) (6-2, 7-5)
SF: Vs. Langa/Wheatly (XULA)
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