ELKHART, Ind. ---On Saturday morning, Bethel Women's Tennis wrapped up an exciting run at the ITA Regional, which began on Thursday. The Pilots showcased both strong individual showings and a championship finish in doubles.
FRIDAY
In Friday singles play, Paola Lameda battled hard against No. 3 seed Victoria Savvides but fell 6-4, 6-2.
Szilvi Ferenczy also faced a tough draw, falling to the tournament's top seed Anna Bintsarovskaya 6-3, 6-0. Teammates Daniela Piñeros and Sandy Sharaf squared off in an all-Bethel matchup, with Piñeros earning a gritty 7-6(2), 7-5 win.
In the consolation draw, both Kako Uchijo and Farida Elsayed put together outstanding performances, each winning twice. Uchijo claimed wins of 8-1 and 8-5, while Elsayed rolled with back-to-back 8-0 victories.
In doubles, the duo of Ferenczy and Lameda posted an 8-3 quarterfinal win over Yvonne Shannon and Melissa Jangarasheva, followed by a dominant 8-1 semifinal victory over Mariana Azevedo and Lucia Rubio.
SATURDAY
The highlight of Saturday came in doubles play as Szilvia Ferenczy and Paola Lameda captured the ITA Regional Championship, defeating Blanka Bodo and Maria Clara Fonte 6-4, 7-6(2). With the victory, the duo secured their spot at next month's ITA Cup National Championship in Rome, Georgia.
In singles, Daniela Piñeros advanced to the semifinals before falling to No. 7 seed Leah Gonzales-Edwards 6-2, 6-4, closing out a strong debut performance. In the consolation draw, teammates Farida Elsayed and Kako Uchijo met in the semifinals, with Elsayed earning an 8-6 win. She later battled Yvonne Shannon in the final but came up just short, 8-6. Regarding Elsayed, Head Coach Jamal Henry wrote that she, "really showed some grit in fighting back after her first loss to make it all the way to the end."
Head Coach Jamal Henry also wrote, "This was by far our best showing ever as a team on both the Men's and Women's side at the ITA Regional Championships. With seven players making it to the semifinals in either the main or consolation brackets...we really showed we're going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. I was so proud of everyone, and especially Szilvi and Paola, for grinding out such a hard-fought match to be the first ITA Regional Champs in Bethel History."
The Pilots will next compete on Wed, Oct. 1st at Ward Baker Park against the Judson University Eagles.
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