Chapel Hill, N.C. – Western Carolina women's tennis made history during the 2024 ITA Division I Regionals as the duo of Jade Groen and Madison Schwarz became the first Catamount doubles pairing to advance to the Round of 16 in program history.
The juniors earned the first doubles victory of the regional championships for the Catamounts on Thursday, when they battled to a hard-fought 8-7 (9-7) win over Wake Forest's Brianna Baldi and Sankavi Gownder. They followed it up with a dominating 8-1 victory over Southern Conference foes Alexandra Dodashev Enbert and Olivia Gallagher from UNCG.
Schwarz and Groen face North Carolina's Carson Tanguiling and Susanna Maltby in the Round of 16 on Saturday morning. The first serve is set for 9 a.m.
WCU as a team fared well during the first two days of the ITA regional championship. Isabella Sambola and Madison Schwarz recorded singles wins in the qualifying round, defeating Elon's Miray Konar and Isabella Ortiz of East Carolina in the round of 64. The two were defeated in the round of 32, though, by a pair of Demon Deacons as Brianna Baldi and Kady Tanneubaum of Wake Forest tallied wins.
Additionally, while Andrea Redondo and Dasha Osadova fell individually in their qualifying round matches, the pair picked up wins in the consolation round. Osadova pulled off a strong upset over Coastal Carolina's Brunelle Kouam, defeating the Chanticleer in a tightly contested 6-2, 4-5, (10-6) match. For the third tournament in a row, Andrea Redondo faced a Runnin' Bulldog as she defeated Gardner-Webb's Milika Prokic in straight sets in the consolation round, earning the 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Freshman Zoe Lui earned her first stripes in the Purple & Gold during the regional championships, seeing action in two matches in Chapel Hill. Lui was defeated in the qualifying round by seventh seed Jana Sotjanova of South Carolina. In the consolation round, Lui battled with Elon's Mariana Reding before falling in yet another tightly contested matchup, 5-7, 3-6.
Catamount Results
Main Draw Singles:
Jade Groen def. Dorsa Chergi (NCA&T) 6-4, 6-4 | R32 Emma Jackson (Duke) def. Jade Groen 4-6, 6-0, 6-0
Open Draw Singles:
Xi Ni (South Carolina) def. Dasha Osadova 6-1, 6-1
Jana Strojanova (South Carolina) def. Zoe Lui 6-1, 6-1
Madison Cordisco (Elon) def. Andrea Redondo 6-1, 6-1
Madison Schwarz def. Isabella Ortiz (East Carolina) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4) | R32 Brianna Baldi (Wake Forest) def. Madison Schwarz 6-2, 6-3
Isabella Sambola def. Miray Konar (Elon) 7-5, 6-4 | R32 Kady Tannebaum (Wake Forest) def. Isabella Sambola 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3
Open Draw Singles Consolation Round:
Dasha Osadova def. Brunell Koaum 6-2, 4-6, (10-4
Andrea Redondo def. Milica Prokic (Gardner-Webb) 6-3, 6-4
Mariana Reding (Elon) def. Zoe Lui 7-5, 6-3
Open Doubles:
Madison Schwarz/Jade Groen def. Sankavi Gownder/Brianna Baldi (Wake Forest) 8-7 (9-7) |
R32: Madison Schwarz/Jade Groen def. Alexandra Dodashev Enbert/Olivia Gallagher (UNCG) 8-1
(Will face Carson Tanguiling and Susanna Maltby (North Carolina) in Round of 16 on 10/19 at 9:00 a.m.)
Misa Malkin/Olympe Lancelot (South Carolina) def. Zoe Lui/Dasha Osadova 8-1
Emmie Moore/Jaden Davidson (Charleston Southern) def. Isabella Sambola/Andrea Redondo 8-6
