Athens, Ga. ? Sophomore Breanna Atkinson (Bradenton, Fla./Lakewood Ranch HS) advanced to the quarterfinals of the B singles draw to lead the Stetson women's tennis team at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Regional Friday-Monday at the University of Georgia. Three other Hatters also advanced to the second round in that bracket.
Atkinson, an Atlantic Sun All-Conference and All-Tournament selection as a freshman, began the tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 rout of Troy's Marine Arres before thumping Marigana Cutok of Florida International 6-2, 6-2. Advancing to the third round, she put on an impressive display with a straight-set 6-4, 6-4 victory over Mississippi State's Elna de Villiers, who was a secondary seed (the #5-8 seeds in the B draw were regarded equally). It took the efforts of B draw top seed Federica Suess of powerhouse Florida State to end Atkinson's run in the quarterfinal round by a 6-0, 6-1 score.
Three other Hatters won their opening match of the B draw. Senior Anna Leonenko (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) knocked off Babette Lombardo (Jacksonville State) 6-0, 6-3 and sophomore Natalie Gorham (Miami, Fla./Miami Palmetto HS) beat Kiera Strickland (Georgia State) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 while senior Catherine Canady (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles School) advanced past Mississippi State's Tatiana Feit by the score of 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Suess eliminated Leonenko 6-0, 6-4 in the second round while Canady was also stopped by one of the bracket's top players: third-seeded Paulina Bigos (Alabama) beat Canady 6-1, 6-1. Gorham fell 6-4, 6-0 to Soledad Podlipnik of Ole Miss in the second round while Hatter freshman Megan Jones (Miramar, Fla./Broward Virtual Education) lost in the first round to Jacksonville State's Martina Dessbesell 6-3, 6-2.
Stetson sophomore Valentina Galbarini (Montevideo, Uruguay) competed in the A singles bracket and lost her opening match to #9-16 secondary seed Whitney Benik (Florida) 7-5, 6-2.
Consolation bracket play was not played to completion due to inclement weather in Athens but Stetson picked up a pair of victories before the weather stoppage. Galbarini defeated Jacksonville State's Viviana Marami 6-3, 6-7 (1), 1-0 (7) in the A bracket while Jones was a 6-1, 7-5 winner over Karen Ammann of A-Sun rival Kennesaw State in B bracket consolation action.
Atkinson and Galbarini teamed up to roll past Maria Maggiorini and Lauren Pheiffer (Florida Gulf Coast) 8-1 in the first round of the A doubles draw before falling 8-2 to Romy Farah and Caren Seenauth (University of Miami). In B doubles play, Gorham and Canady were defeated by the Alabama duo of Bigos and Alice Tunaru 8-3 while Leonenko and junior Katherine St. Clair (West Palm Beach, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) lost 8-4 to Laura van de Stroet and Yana Kireeva from Ole Miss.
With the fall schedule completed, Stetson will now turn its attention to practicing for the spring dual match season, a tough slate featuring six opponents that ended the 2007 season ranked in the ITA top 75. The Hatters open the spring campaign at sixth-ranked Florida on January 16.
