Box Score FLUSHING, N.Y. – D'Youville tennis made history this weekend with its first-ever appearance at the ITA East Regional Tournament, hosted at the Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center. The Saints battled through a packed field of the region's top talent, securing multiple singles victories and advancing deep into doubles play in their debut outing.
The Saints opened the tournament in the play-in round, where freshman Miranda Bosch gave DYU its first ever ITA win with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Adelphi University's Genesis Beltran. Freshmen Nele Herbst and Erika Ismailova followed with straight-set wins of their own — Herbst topping Franklin Pierce's Ana Munoz Hernandez (6-4, 6-3) and Ismailova defeating Saint Michael's Jedidah Xu (6-2, 6-3). Freshman Florentina Schmidt fought hard but was edged by Wilmington's Gloria Barcaro, 6-0, 6-3.
In the round of 64, Bosch battled back after a dominant opening set but fell in a tight tiebreak to Southern New Hampshire's Dajana Abadzic, 0-6, 6-3, (13-11). Sophomore Mina Randjelovic dropped a 6-1, 6-2 match to SNHU's Lois Tsui, while junior Munisa Ashurbekova was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by Queens College's Marie Bertran. Herbst and Ismailova continued their momentum — Herbst pulling out a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Wilmington's Elena Carmacho, and Ismailova cruising past Chestnut Hill's Claudia Romero, 6-2, 6-0.
That set up a Saints-versus-Saints clash in the round of 32, where doubles partners Herbst and Ismailova pushed each other to the limit. After splitting sets, Ismailova narrowly advanced with a 6-3, 3-6, (10-8) win. Her run came to an end in the round of 16 against Adelphi's Zuzanna Witkowska, who took the match 6-4, 6-0.
In doubles, Randjelovic and Schmidt opened play in the round of 64 but fell to Queens' Regina Ruiz and Kayla Taszymowicz, 8-2. Ashurbekova and Bosch delivered DYU's highlight win in the round of 32, outlasting St. Thomas Aquinas' Shreethika Vangala and Mar Caneves Bufi in an 8-6 thriller. Meanwhile, Herbst and Ismailova ran into a tough Queens pairing, falling 8-2.
Ashurbekova and Bosch carried the Saints into the round of 16, but Queens College's Bertran and Johanne Genestay managed to end DYU's doubles run with an 8-2 result.
In their first ITA East Regional showing, the Saints proved they could compete with the best in the region. Four of the six Saints competing in the tournament are freshmen, with one sophomore and junior, respectively. With multiple singles victories, a head-to-head DYU battle in the round of 32, and a doubles run to the round of 16, D'Youville left Flushing, N.Y. with both valuable experience and confidence for the season ahead.
Saints tennis looks to build on their ITA East Regional performance as they travel to take on ECC conference foe Daemen University on Friday, October 3rd.
