College Tournament
Champions Crowned in DII, DIII, NAIA & Juco at ITA Cup
by Rhiannon Potkey, 2 November 2022
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For the sixth consecutive year, the nation’s top singles and doubles players from the NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA and Juco levels gathered at the Rome Tennis Park in Rome, Georgia earlier this month to take part in the 2022 ITA Cup.
Featuring over 250 players from across the country, the ITA Cup serves as the only individual championship for the Division II and NAIA levels. The event’s history dates back to 1986 when it was called the National Small College Championships.
Division II
In the women’s singles final, Barry’s Deniz Khazan defended her ITA Cup title by beating Washburn’s Sofia Smagina 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a three-set thriller.
Division II Champion Deniz Khazan of Barry
© ITA
Santiago Perez of Columbus State rallied from a one-set deficit to win the men’s singles title. Perez beat Valdosta State’s Luca Mack 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
In women’s doubles, the top-seeded Nova Southeastern team of Fatima Bizhukova and Natalie Espinal beat teammates Madison Kane and Eleonora Liga 6-1, 6-4 in the final.
Unseeded Edgar Destouet and Tom Niklas Zeuch of the University of Indianapolis claimed the men’s doubles crown with a 6-4, 2-6, 10-1 win over second-seeded Tomas Descarrega and Facundo Bermejo of West Florida.
NAIA
As usual, Georgia Gwinnett was highly successful. The Grizzlies claimed three of the four national titles and had two finalists.
In men’s singles, unseeded Paras Dahiya of Georgia Gwinnett defeated No. 3 Gabriel Ortiz of Tennessee Wesleyan 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
In women’s singles, it was an all-Keiser matchup with top-seeded Violet Apisah beating teammate Yvette Schmucker 6-2, 6-1 in the final to cap a stretch of four matches in which Apisah dropped just 12 games total.
NAIA Champion Paras Dahiya of Georgia Gwinnett
© ITA
Georgia Gwinnett was guaranteed to sweep the doubles titles, with all four teams in the final being from the NAIA powerhouse.
Second-seeded Jose Dugo and Leo Sprovieri beat teammates and top seeds Paras Dahiya and Dhakshineswar Suresh 7-6(3), 6-4 in the men’s final, while No. 3 Cassidy Mataia and Liza Velykorodna defeated top-seeded teammates Iryna Lysykh and Stephanie Fernandez 3-6, 6-2, 10-2 in the women’s final.
Division III
In men’s singles, unseeded Advik Mareedu of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps captured the title with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over No. 4 Tristan Bradley of Bowdoin in the final. Mareedu beat the No. 3- and No. 4-seeded players in his championship run.
Top-seeded Sylwia Mikos of the University of Chicago rallied to win the women’s singles title, beating unseeded Sarah Pertsemlidis of MIT 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final.
Division III Champion Sylwia Mikos of UChicago
© ITA
In men’s doubles, No. 3 Vishwa Aduru and James Hopper of Case Western Reserve beat Derin Acaroglu and Vuk Vuksanovic of Tufts 5-7, 6-4, 10-3 in the final, while No. 4 Brooke Despriet and Katherine Petty of Sewanee defeated Claudia Ng and Perene Wang of UChicago 6-3, 6-1 in the final.
JUCO
It was a clean sweep in the men’s finals, with Cowley College capturing both titles.
Top-seeded Takeshi Taco won his second straight ITA Cup singles title after No. 2 Diego Dalisay of Tyler Junior College retired with an injury before the third set began. Dalisay won the first set 7-5 before Taco evened the match with his own 7-5 win in the second set.
Top-seeded Boruch Skierkier and Bruno Nhavene won the doubles title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over No. 2 Naithaolin Golmei and Dan Persson of Tyler JC. Skeirkier and Nhavene lost only nine games total between the semifinal and final rounds.
Juco Champion Takeshi Taco of Cowley College
© ITA
In women’s singles, No. 2 Carol Mora Camacho of Seward won the title by rallying to beat No. 1 Arina Gamretkaia of Hillsborough 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the final.
The Hillsborough tandem of Esmee Andresen and Arina Gamretkaia, seeded No. 2, beat No. 1 Jou Chen Chen and Nicole Dufour of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College 6-1, 1-6, 10-3 in the final to win the crown.
ITA Cup James O’Hara Sargent Sportsmanship Award Winners
Santiago Perez (Columbus State)
Sarah Pertsemlidis (MIT)
