Stoiana Claims ITA All-American Championships Singles Title – Texas A&M Athletics

For Immediate Release
Sunday, October 8, 2023
 
Stoiana Claims ITA All-American Championships Singles Title
 
CARY, N.C – Texas A&M women’s tennis’ Mary Stoiana became the first Aggie to win the ITA All-American Championships singles title taking down Miami’s Alexa Noel in three sets Sunday at the Cary Tennis Center.
 
No. 2 Stoiana faced the tournament’s No. 3 seed Noel from Miami in Sunday’s final. After going down early, losing the opening set (6-3) Stoiana bounced back. She claimed the second set in the depths of a tiebreaker (7-6(5)) and ensured her historic win with a dominant third set (6-1). She was the first Aggie to reach the singles final and the first to ever secure the title.
 
On her way to the tournament win, Stoiana also picked up another four ranked wins. She opened with a win over NC State’s No. 110 Sophie Abrams (6-1, 1-6, 6-1), then downed Oklahoma State’s No. 40 Oby Kajuru (4-6, 6-4, 7-5). In the quarterfinals, Stoiana faced conference opponent No. 6 Dasha Vidmanova from Georgia, winning in straight sets (7-6(5), 7-5) to advance to the semifinals. In the penultimate round she faced another SEC opponent in South Carolina’s No. 25 Sarah Hamner, once again taking the match in two sets (7-5, 6-4).
 
No. 19 Stoiana and Mia Kupres made a deep run in the women’s doubles bracket, downing three ranked pairs on their way to a semifinals appearance. The duo bested South Carolina’s No. 10 Ayana Akli/Hamner in the first round (5-7, 6-3, 10-5), followed by a win over Texas Tech’s No. 15 Metka Komac/Avelina Sayfetdinova (6-4, 7-6(6)). Stoiana/Kupres then outlasted the 2023 NCAA doubles champions from North Carolina No. 3 Fiona Crawley/Carson Tanguilig in a three-set thriller (4-6, 7-6(3), 10-6) to advance to the semfinals. The Aggie pair fell in the penultimate round to Oklahoma’s Dana Guzman/Alina Shcherbinina (6-4, 6-2), ending their strong run in the tournament.
 
No. 56 Kupres and No. 29 Nicole Khirin also competed in the singles bracket in Cary, with Kupres claiming a win over North Carolina’s Tanguilig (4-6, 7-6(3), 10-6), then falling to California’s No. 47 Jessica Alsola (6-4, 6-3). Khirin dropped a pair of matches versus Duke’s Shavit Kimchi (6-2, 7-6(5)) and North Carolina’s Theadora Rabman (6-4, 7-6(5))
 
COACH’S QUOTES
Associate head coach Jordan Szabo on Mary Stoiana’s tournament as a whole…
“This was a great week for…