Panthers Start Strong at ITA Regionals

Thursday, October 15

Lynchburg, Va.

TBA

Pitt

Regional Championships

Panthers Start Strong at ITA Regionals

10/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

Oct. 15, 2015

Day One Results | Updated Bracket | Tournament Central

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Pitt tennis team had an impressive showing on the first day of the 2015 ITA Atlantic Regionals hosted by Liberty University as the Panthers finished 5-1. Pitt went 3-1 in singles and 2-0 in doubles.

The day was highlighted by sophomore Callie Frey, who went 2-0 in singles in the qualifying draw, moving her to the main draw of singles. Frey downed her first opponent of the morning, Rachael Morales of Marshall, 6-2, 6-4. In the round of 16, the Pittsburgh native played another strong match as she defeated ACC-foe Sansitha Nandakumar of Virginia Tech, 6-1, 6-3. Frey will continue singles action in the main draw at 10:45 a.m. on Friday against Marshall's Derya Turhan.

"Callie [Frey] has been consistently playing good tennis and that quality at this level is priceless," head coach Alex Santos said. "She keeps making her game a little better every day and today her tennis was more aggressive and methodical than ever. Qualifying to the main draw was a goal of ours and hopefully we will keep the momentum going."

Rounding out the first day of singles was senior Amber Washington who fell, 5-7, 6-4, 0-6, to VCU's Magda Aubets, moving her to the back-draw. However, Washington bounced back from the loss and took down Cecilia Lynham of Georgetown, 6-2, 6-2. Next up for Washington is Sam Droop of Navy.

The Panthers dominated in doubles this afternoon as both pairs won their matches. Junior Audrey Ann Blakely and Gabriela Rezende posted an 8-4 victory over Penn State's Katherine Whiteway and Jackie Zuhse. That win was the fifth for the duo this fall. Blakely/Rezende will take on Nikol Hristova and Marijana Novakovic of Old Dominion tomorrow afternoon in the round of 32.

The freshmen tandem of Carina Ma and Natsumi Okamoto shut down Longwood's Fallon Burger and Anna Pelak, 8-2, and will face Elena Cerezo-Codina and Caroline Daxhelet of Virginia Tech Friday afternoon as well.

"Any day where you win every doubles match you play is a very positive day," Santos said. "Audrey Ann [Blakely] and Gabriela [Rezende] didn't start the way we would like to, but they were able to stay composed. After they settled down, their tennis was the best I have seen from them in doubles by playing each point the way it should be played. Carina [Ma] and Natsumi [Okamoto] made their debut in the regional tournament and handled themselves like veterans."

DAY ONE RESULTS

Singles

Frey (Pitt) def. Morales (Marshall), 6-2, 6-4

Frey (Pitt) def. Nandakumar (Virginia Tech), 6-1, 6-3

Aubets (VCU) def. Washington (Pitt), 7-5, 4-6, 6-0

Washington (Pitt) def. Lynham (Georgetown), 6-2, 6-2

Doubles

Blakely/Rezende (Pitt) def. Whiteway/Zuhse (Penn State), 8-4

Ma/Okamoto (Pitt) def. Burger/Pelak (Longwood), 8-2

DAY TWO MATCH-UPS

Singles Main Draw - Round of 64

Blakely (Pitt) vs. Isaacs (Duquesne)