Tulsa Women Win 2024 NIT Championship

Wednesday, May 8

Bradenton, Fla.

10:30 a.m.

Tulsa

(1) Colorado

Tulsa Women Win 2024 NIT Championship

5/8/2024 5:17:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)Final Season Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Tulsa women's tennis team completed a sweep of the UTR Tennis NIT Championships on Wednesday adding the school's second title on the same day as the Golden Hurricane men who captured the men's NIT crown earlier in the morning.

The third-seeded Hurricane women claimed a 4-2 win over No. 2 seed Colorado in afternoon action at the IMG Academy Tennis Courts to win the second-ever UTR Sports NIT Championship. Tulsa finished the season with an overall 14-12 record after compiling three postseason wins. Junior Ana Naranjo Martinez was named Women's MVP after going 3-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles, including the doubles clinch in Wednesday's championship match.

Tulsa opened the match by taking the coveted 1-0 lead by winning positions Nos. 2 and 3, and in singles play, it was the back half of the Hurricane lineup that came through to pull out the victory.

Tulsa's tandem of Erin McKenzie and Tayla Wilmot made quick work at the No. 3 doubles slot with a 6-1 victory. After Colorado knotted the doubles score at 1-1 with a win from its No. 59-ranked team at the No. 1 position, the Hurricane duo of Ana Naranjo Martinez and Oleksandra Nahurska gave Tulsa the doubles point with a 7-5 victory at the No. 2 slot.

The Buffs knotted the score at one apiece when Mila Stanojevic defeated Tulsa's Lily Hutchings in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 3 position. A 6-2, 6-3 win by Tulsa's Naranjo Martinez gave Tulsa a one-point cushion, but not before CU's Elys Ventura's two-set victory over Nahurska at the No. 2 position tied the score at 2-2.

Wilmot's win at the No. 6 spot, 6-2, 6-3 over CU's Pia Rebec, gave the Hurricane a 3-2 lead leaving either Maria Berlanga at No. 1 or McKenzie at No. 5 to clinch the Hurricane championship with a win at either spot. Berlanga was in her third set, tied at 5-5, when McKenzie wrapped the match up for Tulsa. The freshman took her first set by winning the tiebreaker 7-5, but handled her opponent convincingly in the second set with a 6-1 match-clinching win.

Singles
1. Maria Berlanga (TLS) def. Aya El Sayed (CU) 3-6, 6-1, 5-5, unfinished
2. Elys Ventrua (CU) def. Oleksandra Nahurska (TLS) 6-1, 6-2
3. Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Lily Hutchings (TLS) 6-3, 6-2
4. Ana Naranjo Martinez (TLS) def. Betina Tokac (CU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Erin McKenzie (TLS) def. Alexandra Abyasova (CU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
6. Tayla Wilmot (TLS) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
1. #59 Pia Rebec/Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Maria Berlanga/Lily Hutchings (TLS) 6-4
2. Ana Naranjo Martinez/Oleksandra Nahurska (TLS) def. #80 Mila Stanojevic/Elys Ventura (CU) 7-5
3. Erin McKenzie/Tayla Wilmot (TLS) def. Anya Nelson/Alex Abyasova (CU) 6-1

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,4,2,6,5)