Keiser women's tennis ended the third day of action at the ITA Cup with hopes of another singles title for Violet Apisah as doubles dropped a late-night marathon match.

The day began with singles as No. 1 Apisah was matched up with her 2024 NAIA National Championship opponent, No. 3 Justine Lespes. Apisah had been waiting to get another chance at Lespes and showed her strength with a 6-2, 6-2 win. Apisah will now advance to her second career ITA Cup Final, where she will play No. 2 Shalimar Talbi of SCAD-Atlanta. In the backdraw, Cato Tangkau faced off with Eloise de Mooij for their final matches of the tournament. Tangkau came out on top with a 6-3, 6-2 win over her teammate. In doubles, de Mooij and Vanja Vidanovic jumped ahead in the match early, winning the first set 7-5. The No. 2 doubles pair from Xavier, Mbali Langa and McKenna Wheatly, countered with a 6-4 win in the second set to send the match into a third-set super-tiebreaker. Langa and Wheatly would get ahead early and not look back in the super, winning 10-6 and taking the match.




When asked about the doubles match, Head Coach Daniel Finn said, "That's a tough one to lose. The girls had every chance to win that match and let it get away. A lot of credit to the Xavier girls. They won the big points and came up with some plays when they had to, but that's definitely a match we will be thinking about for a while. In the end, you have to remember that Vanja and Eloise hadn't played together more than a couple of days before going into ITA Regionals and put together some good tennis at the national championship. We just couldn't close it out today, but we will learn from it and be better."

On what it will take for Apisah to win tomorrow, "It's simple. She just needs to be Vi. That's what she has been doing all fall. The results at the ITA Regionals and this ITA Cup speak for themselves. She will face a strong opponent tomorrow, and I would expect some high-level tennis. That said, Violet is an incredible tennis player, and when she is confident and trusting her shots throughout the match, she is tough to beat. The message from the coaching staff throughout the tournament has been for her to be herself, play her game. and continue to trust her shots. That'll be the game plan going into tomorrow."



(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: Def. Justine Lespes (GGC) (6-2, 6-2)

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: Def. Eloise de Mooij (KU) (6-3, 6-2)

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: Lost to Cato Tangkau (KU) (3-6, 2-6)



 
(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: Lost to (2) Langa/Wheatly (XULA) (7-5, 4-6, 6-10)
 

 

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