St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
ITA Northeast Regional
Jessica Livianu Reaches Quarterfinals in Singles Play at ITA Northeast Regionals
10/16/2018 6:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis
St. John’s finishes the ITA Regionals with a total of eight wins
The St. John's women's tennis team completed play at the ITA Northeast Regional Championships yesterday in New Haven, Conn., highlighted by junior Jessica Livianu reaching the quarterfinal round of the Main Singles Draw.
The ITA Regional Championships feature some of the top men's and women's players across the country. Over 8,000 student-athletes from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, Junior and Community Colleges compete across 85 ITA Regional Championships around the country. The Northeast Regional, hosted by Yale University at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center, consisted of a 32-player qualifying bracket, 128-player singles tournament, and 64 doubles pairs. The annual tournament also serves as a qualifier, with the finalists in singles and the winner in doubles gaining automatic entry into the ITA Fall National Championships in early November.
Overall, the Red Storm had two student-athletes in the qualifying rounds, three in the singles tournament, and two doubles teams compete over the weekend. Throughout the tournament, St. John's finished with an overall singles record of 6-3 and a doubles record of 1-2.
Qualifying Singles:
Leading off the five-day event were two Red Storm representatives in the qualifying singles portion of the tournament, sophomores Oceane Garibal and Kajsa Stegrell. Garibal punched a ticket to the Main Singles draw, winning her two qualifier matches over NJIT's Mayar Eltoni, (6-1, 6-3) and Fairfield's Aina March, (6-7, 6-1, 7-6). Stegrell lost in her first match of the qualifiers to Columbia's Renee Ren in straight sets, (6-3, 7-6 (5)).
Singles Tournament:
Three Johnnies saw action in the main singles tournament event, (Livianu, Garibal, and Olaya Inclan Solis), all competing for a shot to represent St. John's at the ITA National Championships in Surprise, Ariz.
Livianu had another stellar singles tournament for the Red Storm, clinching a spot in the semifinal round and finishing with a 3-1 record. As the No. 1 seed in the tournament, the two-time reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year earned a first-round bye. In the second round, Livianu defeated Yale's Jessie Gong (6-3, 6-2). The third round proved to be a tough test for the Brooklyn native but she prevailed in three sets over Princeton's Nicole Kalhorn (6-1, 3-6, 6-1). In her third win, the junior knocked off Columbia's Akanksha Bhan in straight sets (7-5, 6-2). In the quarterfinals, Livianu lost in a three-set thriller to No. 6 ranked Yulia Bryzgalova of Penn (5-7, 6-3, 7-5).
Oceane Garibal also saw success in the singles tournament after winning two qualifying matches to enter the draw. The sophomore continued her hot streak by defeated Cornell's Valerie Ho, (6-3, 7-6). Garibal's singles tournament came to close the next match as she lost in three sets to Boston College's Jackie Urbinati, (6-0, 4-6, 6-3).
Senior Olaya Inclan Solis also went 1-1 in the singles draw. After defeating Penelope Abreu of St. Bonaventure (5-7, 7-5, 6-0), the Spaniard lost in the second round to Syracuse's Sofya Golubofskaya (6-3, 6-2).
Doubles Tournament:
In the doubles tournament, St. John's sent a pair of teams to the courts: Solis/Garibal and Gabriela Tenorio/Stegrell, with a trip to the finals qualifying the pairs for the ITA National Championships consideration.
The duo of Solis and Garibal finished 1-1 in the doubles draw. The pair won their first set match over Rodriguez/Nella of Quinnipiac, 8-2, but took a loss in the second round to Columbia's Bhan/Ferrari, 8-1.
The pairing of Tenorio and Stegrell wasn't as successful as they lost to Long/Lopez of Boston College, 8-3, in the first round.
Next Up:
The Red Storm return to action for the final time this fall from Oct. 26-28, as they travel to Buffalo, N.Y., to compete in the Buffalo Indoor Invite at the Miller Tennis Center.
