ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – The ninth ranked Aggie women's tennis team's season culminates with the NCAA Division II National Tournament which begins with CU facing No. 6 Columbus State on Tuesday afternoon.
Hosted at the Sanlando Park Tennis Center in Altamonte Springs, the NCAA D2 Round of 16 starts Tuesday with Cameron's opening round match coming at 3 p.m. against a familiar foe in the 6-seeded Cougars, who the Aggies beat this season 5-2.
Feb. 24, 2022, the two eventual postseason foes met up in Oklahoma City for an early season match. At that time, CSU was ranked No. 5 in the nation while the Aggies were still unranked. Cameron fell behind early, losing two of the three doubles contests, but Cameron got wins from
Vasilisa Polunova,
Lea Manga,
Anastasia Uspenskaia,
Magda Wawrowska, and Karolina Glowinksa to win 5-2 and propel them up the ITA team rankings.
For much of the spring, that win was Cameron's signature moment in a season that saw them go 18-4 and 8-1 in league play, earning them a share of the Lone Star Conference Championship. The Aggies then fell short of the LSC Tournament title, losing 4-2 to the 2-seed St. Mary's. The Black and Gold then entered the postseason as the 2-seed in the South Central Regional, beating the 3-seed and 22nd ranked Angelo State in a revenge match, 4-1, on CU's home court to earn their spot in the National Championship Tournament.
Led by the LSC Coach of the Year
Josh Cobble, the Aggies are as deep as they ever have been in both singles and doubles play. The veteran Polunova owns a 17-5 record in singles playing at one while the LSC Freshman of the Year Uspenskaia is 20-6 with nine wins playing at two. Two other freshman,
Kateryna Rudenko and Wawrowska, are 19-7 and 15-7 respectively, while Manga,
Pilar Jaurena and Glowinska also have winning records for the Aggies.
Cobble has been able to use the same three doubles pairs all spring. Currently ranked No. 10 by the ITA, Uspenskaia and Wawrowska are 18-7 playing at one for Cameron. Polunova and Glowinska are 17-7 at two and Manga and Rudenko are 13-11 on the third line this spring.
The loss to Cameron early in the season did not ruin Columbus State's season as they proceeded to go 19-5 and win the Peach Belt Conference. The Cougars then beat No. 8 North Georgia 4-2 to win the Southeast Regional and advance to their 10th straight Round of 16.
Ranked No. 6 as a team, Columbus State has three players ranked in singles and one doubles team ranked, much like the Aggies. Neila Trklija is ranked No. 9 and is 16-6 this spring with 13 of her wins coming at one. Mariana Ramirez (15-7) and Valentina Abrile (14-7) are also ranked in the top-75. Abrile and Ramirez are also ranked No. 12 as a pair with a 16-6 record at one doubles.
The last time the Aggie women made it this far in the postseason was in 2016. That Cameron squad faced California (Pa.) in the first round, winning 5-2, before losing to Hawaii Pacific 5-1 in the quarterfinals.
Live scoring is available for the entirety of the tournament courtesy of Rollins College sports information. Should the Aggies beat CSU for the second time this season they would play in the Elite 8 match on Wednesday at 3 p.m. Additionally, the semifinal is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. and the National Championship will take place Saturday at 3 p.m. as well.
