Wednesday, November 20
Waco, Texas
Tulsa
vs
NCAA Individual Championships
Maria Berlanga and Lily Hutchings Set to Dance in the NCAA Individual Championships
11/17/2024 12:03:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Tulsa, Okla. – The University of Tulsa's Maria Berlanga and Lily Hutchings will play in the first round of the NCAA Doubles Tournament on Wednesday, November 20th. They will take on the second seeded NC State duo Gabriella Broadfoot and Maddy Zampardo in the first round. The winner of the match will then face either Kendall Kovick and Yujia Huang of BYU or Theadora Rabman and Tatum Evans of North Carolina in the Round of 16. All the action will be live on ESPN+.
Berlanga and Hutchings received an automatic bid to the NCAA Individual Championships after winning the ITA Central Regional Championships. They are only the fourth women's doubles pairing to ever represent Tulsa at the tournament. Previous appearances were from Samantha Vickers and Isaura Enrique in 2013, who reached the round of 16 and in 1999 when Jennifer DeSpain and Anousjka van Exel who appeared in round-two action. Most recent appearance was from Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner who were able to make it to the Round of 32 in 2021 and the quarterfinals in 2019, garnering All-America honors.
The road to the tournament was not easy as Berlanga and Hutchings were able to defeat seven opponents without dropping a single set. At the ITA Central Regional, Hutchings and Berlanga made quick work of North Dakota's Jule Schulte and Ethel LI duo by an 8-0 decision. The Tulsa pairing was able to make another move by an 8-1 decision over Lailaa Bashir and Gian Octa of Missouri.
In the Round of 16, Berlanga and Hutchings were set to take on the No. 69-ranked Gracie Mulville and Janse VanVuuren of Kansas. The Tulsa duo outscored the KU pair 8-6 to send them to the quarterfinal. The match with Oklahoma's Julia Garcia Ruiz and Roisin Gilheany proved to be another domination as Tulsa's duo put themselves into the semifinal with an 8-3 winner. The semifinal proved to be the longest match of the day against Kansas State's Maralgoo Chogsomjar and Maria Santos. The final score was in favor of Tulsa as they posted a 7-6(8-6), 7-5 advancing them into the championship final, where Berlanga and Hutchings solidified their spot into the NCAA's with a 6-3, 6-2 score over the Oklahoma duo, Cara Mester and Alina Shcherbinia.
Berlanga and Hutchings received an automatic bid to the NCAA Individual Championships after winning the ITA Central Regional Championships. They are only the fourth women's doubles pairing to ever represent Tulsa at the tournament. Previous appearances were from Samantha Vickers and Isaura Enrique in 2013, who reached the round of 16 and in 1999 when Jennifer DeSpain and Anousjka van Exel who appeared in round-two action. Most recent appearance was from Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner who were able to make it to the Round of 32 in 2021 and the quarterfinals in 2019, garnering All-America honors.
The road to the tournament was not easy as Berlanga and Hutchings were able to defeat seven opponents without dropping a single set. At the ITA Central Regional, Hutchings and Berlanga made quick work of North Dakota's Jule Schulte and Ethel LI duo by an 8-0 decision. The Tulsa pairing was able to make another move by an 8-1 decision over Lailaa Bashir and Gian Octa of Missouri.
In the Round of 16, Berlanga and Hutchings were set to take on the No. 69-ranked Gracie Mulville and Janse VanVuuren of Kansas. The Tulsa duo outscored the KU pair 8-6 to send them to the quarterfinal. The match with Oklahoma's Julia Garcia Ruiz and Roisin Gilheany proved to be another domination as Tulsa's duo put themselves into the semifinal with an 8-3 winner. The semifinal proved to be the longest match of the day against Kansas State's Maralgoo Chogsomjar and Maria Santos. The final score was in favor of Tulsa as they posted a 7-6(8-6), 7-5 advancing them into the championship final, where Berlanga and Hutchings solidified their spot into the NCAA's with a 6-3, 6-2 score over the Oklahoma duo, Cara Mester and Alina Shcherbinia.
Players Mentioned
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