(San Diego, CA) On the final day of ITA Southwest Regionals taking place in San Diego, sophomore Emilija Tverijonaite bounced back from a loss in the semifinals, with a straight-sets victory in the third-place match over San Diego’s Kailey Evans, 6-1, 6-4 to secure a birth in the NCAA singles tournament set for Nov. 19-24 in Waco, Texas.
The win marks the first Sun Devil NCAA singles qualifier since Ilze Hattingh qualified for the tournament in 2021.
Due to an ITA regional finalist already qualified for the NCAA singles tournament, the winner of the 3rd place match decided who would be the second qualifier for the championship in November, qualifying Emilija into the field of 64.
The sophomore went 5-1 this past weekend in singles play, and is now 9-1 this Fall season, including having three, 3-set wins in her past two tournaments.
In September at the UTSA SoCal Intercollegiate Championships, Tverijonaite won the singles draw, dropping only one set for the entire tournament in four matches defeating BYU’s Grace Levelston 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (3).
Ranked No. 52 in the nation, the Lithuanian managed an upset victory over No. 15 Emma Charney of USC in the quarterfinal round, winning 6-1, 7-6 (4). She was also 2-1 this past week in doubles play paired with teammate Aiya Nupbay.
Below is the full match-by-match recap of how the Emilija and the Sun Devils fared at ITA Regionals this past weekend.
Emilija’s road to the NCAA Singles Tournament:
First Round: No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 8 Kailey Evans – 6-1, 6-4
Second Round: No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. Diana De Simone (SD) – 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
Round of 16: No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 9-16 Alexia Harmon (Pepperdine) – 6-7, 6-3, 6-0
Quarterfinal: No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 3 Emma Charney – 6-1, 7-6 (4)
Semifinal: No. 2 Amelia Honer def. No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) – 2-6, 3-6
Third-place match: No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 8 Kailey Evans – 6-1, 6-4
ABOUT THE NCAA SINGLES AND DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIPS:
In January of 2023, the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee approved a two-year pilot program to hold the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Individual Championships in the fall of 2024 and 2025. The ITA office, along with the NCAA Singles & Doubles Pathway Task Force (consisting of ITA member coaches), has worked diligently over the past several years to create a clearly defined and accessible pathway for student-athletes to earn entry into the fall 2024 and fall 2025 NCAA Individual Championships. More information on qualifying for the NCAA Singles and Double’s championships can be found here.
TUESDAY, THIRD-PLACE MATCH, OCT. 22:
No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 8 Kailey Evans – 6-1, 6-4
RESULTS FROM MONDAY, OCT. 21:
Singles Main Draw: Semifinals
No. 2 Amelia Honer def. No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) – 2-6, 3-6
RESULTS FROM SUNDAY, OCT. 20:
Singles Main Draw: Quarterfinals
No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 3 Emma Charney – 6-1, 7-6 (4)
No. 1 Savannah Broadus (Pepperdine) def. No. 9-16 Svetac (ASU) – 4-6, 5-7
Doubles Extra Matches:
Spaka/Nupbay (ASU) def. Costa/Franco (Long Beach) – 6-3
Olmos/Gjinaj (SDSU) def. Evans/Piestrzybska (ASU) – 4-6
RESULTS FROM SATURDAY, OCT. 19
Singles Main Draw: Round of 16
No. 6 Tverijonaite (ASU) def. No. 9-16 Alexia Harmon (Pepperdine) – 6-7, 6-3, 6-0
No. 9-16 Svetac (ASU) def. No. 7 Anna-Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA) – 6-1, 6-4
Doubles main draw: Round of 32
No.6 Spaka/Svetac (ASU) def. Anya Murthy/Sioane Morra (USC) – 8-4
No. 9-16 Dunkle/Leather (Cal Poly) def. Evans/Piestrzynska (ASU) – 3-8
No. 9-16 Nupbay/Tverijonaite (ASU) def. MacCallum/Ozerets (Cal Poly) – 8-4
Doubles main draw: Round of 16
No. 2 Broadus/Yang (Pepperdine) def. No. 9-16 Nupbay/Tverijonaite (ASU) – 2-8
No. 9-16 Fakih/Center (UCLA) def. No. 6 Spaka/Svetac (ASU) – 5-8
Singles Consolation Draw:
Piestrzynska (ASU) def. Joelle Lanz (Hawaii) – 6-4, 6-3
Nupbay (ASU) def. Anya Murphy (USC) – 6-4, 7-6 (7)
Jana Hossam Salah def. Evans (ASU) – 3-6, 4-6
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Zachary Wargo
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