The second half of women’s regionals have concluded, and the themes present during the first half were not so strong.
There was more parity throughout with 15 schools accounting for the 18 spots in Athens up for grabs at the individual championships, with no school claiming both singles spots at their regional.
Compare that to last week where two schools (Michigan and Georgia) completely swept their field and 13 schools accounted for 21 spots available. Last week saw a number of upsets, but this week saw even more. Many of the qualifiers come at somewhat of a surprise. South Carolina’s Jana Stokanova who played the No. 5 and 6 position last season put on a solid showing to get through to NCAAs. Maryland laid claim to a singles and doubles ticket to Athens.
The most notable names making it through to NCAAs include No. 48 Katie Rolls (Virginia) and No. 33 Lavinia Tanasie (NC State) in singles, as well as No. 2 preseason doubles duo Victoria Osuigwe/Roisin Gilheany (NC State). That duo had some major troubles at All Americans, barely getting through to the second round where they got bounced by Piper Charney/Reese Miller.
After going down 0-6 in the first set, they took the second set 6-0 and won the tie-break 10-8 to secure a spot in NCAAs, giving Osuigwe a chance to defend her doubles title with her new partner. Last year, she secured the title with Gabriella Broadfoot, but after shoulder surgery, Broadfoot will likely not be back until midway through the spring season. Gilheany was also one of the best doubles players last season, being ranked as the top duo with Gloriana Nahum at Oklahoma to finish the season.
Speaking of Nahum, she qualified for NCAAs in the Central Regional with partner Sara Shumate (Oklahoma). Staying in the Central Region, Laura Brunkel (Oklahoma) put up a solid performance to secure a bid to Athens. Last season, she played to a 4-2 mark in singles at Oklahoma. One should assume she will get more matches in this spring.
The top-seeded Sara Akid (Utah) secured one of the singles bids in the Mountain Regional, with Sage Bergeson (BYU) securing the other.
This week’s qualifiers
Atlantic — Katie Rolls (Virginia) and Anastasiia Sorska (Maryland) — Emma Ghirardato/Diya Challa (Maryland)
Carolina — Jana Stojanova (South Carolina) and Lavinia Tanasie (NC State) — Victoria Osuigwe/Roisin Gilheany (NC State)
Central — Arina Malygina (Oklahoma State) and Laura Brunkel (Oklahoma) — Sara Shumate/Gloriana Nahum (Oklahoma)
Mountain — Sara Akid (Utah) and Sage Bergeson (BYU) — Ema Bubalo/Lera Alexin (Colorado)
Northeast — Tsehay Driscoll (Princeton) and Kenzie Nguyen (Columbia) — Maelie Monfis/Patricia Grigoris (Penn State)
Southwest — Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) and Lily Taylor (Arizona State) — Vessa Turley/Tea Lukic (San Diego State)
Last week’s qualifiers
Midwest – Piper Charney (Michigan) and Olivia Traynor (Michigan) — Piper Charney / Reese Miller (Michigan)
New England – Lauren Kettlewell (Boston University) and Stephanie Yakoff (Harvard) — Stephanie Yakoff / Kavya Karra (Harvard)
Northwest – Marie Weissheim (Washington) and Alyssa Ahn (Stanford) — Nela Jandova / Marina Markina (Washington)
Ohio Valley – Julia Zhu (Kentucky) and Donna Le Roux (Kentucky) — Valeria Ray / Sophia Webster (Vanderbilt)
Southeast – Bella Payne (Georgia) and Emma Dong (Georgia) — Emma Dong / Ranah Akua Stoiber (Georgia)
Southern – Ashton Bowers (Auburn) and Alice Battesti (Ole Miss) — Gianna Oboniye / Athina Pitta (Mississippi State)
Texas – Divna Ratkovic (Rice) and Sofiia Mykhailets (TCU) — Sofiia Mykhailets / Cristina Ramos Sierra (TCU)
