TEMPE, Ariz. – Some of the top Division I men’s and women’s student-athletes in the country recently battled at the ITA Division I Regional Championships across various host sites, all vying for qualification to the upcoming NCAA Division I Individual Championships.
Across more than a dozen regional sites, 26 men’s and women’s singles qualifiers and 13 men’s and women’s doubles teams punched their tickets to the NCAA Individual Championships held from November 18-23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
A number of unseeded student-athletes used standout performances to propel themselves to the NCAA Division I Individual Championships next month.
In the Men’s Mountain Region, the unseeded UNLV senior in Illia Maksymchuk took down three top-15 seeds to reach the final, beating No. 7 Jean-Baptiste Badon of Utah State in the semifinal in three sets. An all-UNLV final with No. 1 seed Ilia Snitari ensured both Rebels clinched a spot at the NCAA Singles Championships.
In Gainesville for Southeast Region play, Florida State’s Luis Felipe Miguel emerged as both the singles co-champion and doubles champion alongside teammate Erik Schiessl. Miguel and Schiessl battled in the singles semifinal, with the winner Miguel advancing to Orlando, before joining forces again in doubles play. The two were crowned champions against Florida Atlantic’s Marek Pazdera/Mark Havlicke in the doubles final.
UCLA Men’s Tennis teamed up for a fantastic showing in the Southwest Regional. Junior Spencer Johnson earned qualifications to both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, while sophomore Rudy Quan beat fellow Bruin and No. 70 in the nation Aadarsh Tripathi to reach his first national championship.
In the Women’s Midwest Region, Notre Dame’s Bianca Molnar is NCAA Championship bound in both singles and doubles. Molnar downed the No. 1 singles seed in Michigan’s Lily Jones to reach the final, while winning the doubles crown with partner Bojana Pozder in a three-sit fight against Northwestern’s Neena Feldman/Mika Dagan Fruchtman.
Over to the Northwest Region, Cal’s Naomi Xu beat her top-seeded teammate Mao Mushika in three sets to qualify for NCAAs. It capped a truly impressive regionals run for Xu, who also beat No. 4-seeded Monika Ekstrand (Stanford), No. 9-seeded Maxine Murphy (Washington State) and No. 6-seeded Erika Matsuda (Washington). The Cal Women will be represented at the NCAA Championships in doubles, as well, courtesy of Mushika and Greta Greco Iucchina.
Continue reading below to see the full list of men’s and women’s singles and doubles qualifiers from the DI Regional Championships.
NCAA Men’s Singles Qualifiers from the Regional Championships
Pathway to the Division I Individual ChampionshipsIn January of 2023, the NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee approved a two-year pilot program to hold the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Individual Championships in the fall of 2024 and 2025. The ITA office, along with the NCAA Singles & Doubles Pathway Task Force (consisting of ITA member coaches), has worked diligently over the past several years to create a clearly defined and accessible pathway for student-athletes to earn entry into the fall 2024 and fall 2025 NCAA Individual Championships.
