UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Olivia Dorner and Maiko Uchijima defeated Penn’s Eileen Wang and Sabine Rutlauka, 1-6, 6-4, 10-7, to win the ITA Northeast Regional doubles final in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The victory made them the first Nittany Lions to qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships and win an ITA Regional event since 2012.
The last Nittany Lion to win an ITA Regional event was Petra Januskova, who won the singles title in 2012.
On the road to victory, Dorner and Uchijima bested five other teams. They earned victories over Seton Hall’s Rachel Benoualid and Isabelle May (8-3), Fordham’s Lilianna Chitambar and Lorraine Bergmann (8-4), Princeton’s Pearlie Zhang and Isabella Chhiv (8-1) and Penn’s Gavriella Smith and Saige Roshkoff (8-0) and Esha Velaga and Lara Stojanovski (6-2, 6-3).
In addition to Dorner and Uchijima’s triumph, the tandem of Patricia Grigoras and Jordina Cegarra advanced to the quarterfinals of doubles play. They beat Hofstra’s Lea Forste-Dinell and Amanda Kadiri (8-0), Drexel’s Beatriz Ibrahim and Sofia Snitko (8-0) and Columbia’s Gayathri Krishnan and Sophia Strugnell (8-2).
Dorner and Yvonne Zuffova reached the top 16 in singles play at the competition. Dorner won against Fordham’s Chitambar (6-1, 6-2) and Mercyhurst’s Kayla Dean (6-1, 3-6, 6-1). Zuffova defeated NJIT’s Paula Menendez (6-0, 6-1) and Fordham’s Paola Ueno Dalmonico (7-5, 6-0) in the qualifying round of singles. In the main draw, she took victories over Rider’s Laila Fishman (7-5, 6-4) and Penn’s Maya Urata (6-0, 6-4).
Grigoras and Uchijima earned singles wins as well with Grigoras defeating Princeton’s Zhang (6-3, 6-3) and Uchijima taking down Drexel’s Anastasia Kavounov (6-4, 7-6).
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Day 1 Results – 10/10
Qualifying Singles
1. Yvonne Zuffova (PSU) def. Paula Menendez (NJIT): 6-0, 6-1
2. Alicia Gomez (St. John’s) def. Jelena Vico (PSU): 6-4, 6-3
3. Yvonne Zuffova (PSU) def. Paola Ueno Dalmonico (Fordham): 7-5, 6-0
Day 2 Results – 10/11
Doubles
1. No. 49 Olivia Dorner/Maiko Uchijima (PSU) def. Rachel Benoualid/Isabelle May (Seton Hall): 8-3
2. Patricia Grigoras/Jordina Cegarra (PSU) def. Lea Forste-Dinell/Amanda Kadiri (Hofstra): 8-0
3. Irene Cocero/Laura Wipfli (NJIT) def. Jelena Vico/Yvonne Zuffova (PSU): 8-4
Singles
1. Patricia Grigoras (PSU) def. Pearlie Zhang (Princeton): 6-3, 6-3
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