This past week was an eventful one for West Virginia’s women’s tennis team, as three players competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Atlantic Regional and one represented her country in the Pan American Games.
The Atlantic Regional ran from Thursday, October 19th to Monday the 23rd and featured WVU senior Momoko Nagato, redshirt sophomore Maja Dodik, and junior Michaela Kucharova, who also competed in the tournament’s qualifying rounds. All players competed in the singles competition, while Nagato and Kucharova also teamed up for the doubles tournament.
In singles, Kucharova shined on Thursday to qualify for the tournament’s main draw, defeating Loyola Maryland’s Emi Shivkumar 6-2, 6-1 and Howard’s Selah Stibbins 7-5, 6-2. She went on to win her first match in the main draw, 6-0, 6-4, against Norfolk State’s Laura Ruiz before falling to Liberty’s Maria Juliana Parra Romero on Saturday, 6-2, 6-2.
Nagato and Dodik fell short in the tournament’s first round on Friday, but each won her consolation round on Saturday.
Nagato and Kucharova advanced to the Regional’s quarterfinals in doubles play, winning 8-5 on Friday over Campodonico and Le Du from Richmond and 8-4 on Saturday over George Washington’s Giraldo and Lee.
The pair fell in Sunday’s quarterfinal round to JMU’s Broerman and Moulin, with five points in the match’s tiebreaker. West Virginia did not play any matches on Monday.
Monday, West Virginia grad student Love-Star Alexis represented Haiti in the first round of the Pan American Games. She competed in one of five matches in the round of 64 to advance to the mostly pre-set round of 32.
Uruguay’s Taly Licht defeated Alexis 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the match to advance to the round of 32. She has yet to play her match against third-seeded Maria Lourdes Carlè from Argentina. The Pan American Games will run through Sunday the 29th.
After a busy week, the Mountaineers will rest ahead of the Big 12 Individual Championships in November. The tournament takes place from November 10th through the 13th.
