SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Program history was made for the East Texas Baptist University women's tennis team bringing home two championships from the ITA NCAA Division III Southwest Regional Championships.
Elisa Kendall (Flight A Singles) and
Ashley Schenck/
Cassidy Wilcoxson (Flight B Doubles) both earned championships.
"Elisa was nothing short of spectacular in the singles tournament. She might be the first-ever singles champion in that tournament that was unseeded. She never let up and wore her opponents down. She was a real warrior and played with class the entire time," said head coach
Jeff Bramlett.
Kendall is the second student-athlete to win the ITA NCAA Division III Southwest Regional Flight A Singles Competition for ETBU and now advances to the ITA NCAA Division III National Tournament. Kayla Casey won the singles tournament in 2015 becoming the first student-athlete to win the tournament for ETBU.
"This has been one of the best tournaments we have had in a while," said Bramlett. "It all started in B doubles with Ashley and Cassidy as they won the doubles championship in their first-ever B draw on Saturday."
Schenck/Wilcoxson also made program history by winning the program's first-ever ITA NCAA Division III Southwest Regional Doubles Competition in Flight B. In 2015,
Kate Bramlett and Casey played for the Flight A championship but were the runners-up. Even though they won the Flight B Competition, the ITA only advances the Flight A champions onto the national tournament.
Kendall had three tough matches to start the tournament all winning in extra sets against Trinity's Andrea De Leon, and Ashley Debauge and Southwestern's Mariana Quetzeri. All three of those players come from storied programs that have won the SCAC spring championships and also sent players to the ITA NCAA Division III Fall National Tournament. She then took a 6-4, 6-3, win over Melody Duong from Austin College and then defeated fellow American Southwest Conference opponent Kathy Joseph (Texas Dallas), 6-3, 6-2, for the championship.
Schenck/Wilcoxson started off with an 8-3 win over McMurry's Morgan Parnell/Briana Perez. It was the second match vs. Concordia-Texas' Clarie Austin/Leyla Martinez that they had to fight through tie breakers to win, 9-8. From there they took 8-6 wins over Hardin-Simmons' Sabra Zullo/Emily Shaffer and McMurry's Gabby Ellwanger/Neah Garza for the championship.
Kendall will now wait to see where she is seeded for the national tournament.
Elisa Kendall
def. Andrea De Leon (Trinity), 6-1, 7-6 (4)
def. Mariana Quetzeri (Southwestern), 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (8)
def. Ashley Debauge (Trinity), 6-2, 7-6 (1)
def. Melody Duong (Austin College), 6-4, 6-3
def. Kathy Joseph (Texas Dallas), 6-3, 6-2
Tiffany Stankiewicz
Lost to Kathy Joseph (Texas Dallas), 6-3, 6-1
Doubles Competition – Flight B
Ashley Schenck / Cassidy Wilcoxson
def. Morgan Parnell/Briana Perez (McMurry), 8-3
def. Claire Austin/Leyla Martinez (Concordia-Texas), 9-8 (4)
def. Sabra Zullo/Emily Shaffer (Hardin-Simmons), 8-6
def. Gabby Ellwanger/Neah Garza (McMuirry), 8-6
Doubles Competition – Flight A
Olivia Parmelly/Mullika Seekhieo
Lost to Chandler Vrba/Sara Le (Southwestern), 8-1
Tiffany Stankiewicz/Tess Willis
Def. Jennifer Garcia/Alexandra Pedraza, 8-3
Lost to Mary Kaffen/Zoe Kaffen (Trinity), 8-1
Doubles Competition – Flight A Consolation
Olivia Parmelly/Mullika Seekhieo
Lost to Kaitlyn Hathorn/Sam Ritz (McMurry), 8-4
Singles Competition – Flight B
Olivia Parmelly
Lost to Katie Smith (Schreiner), 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 1-0 (10)
Ashley Schenck
Lost to Sara Le (Southwestern), 6-4, 6-4
Mullika Seekhieo
Lost to Claire Austin (Concordia), 6-2, 6-1
Cassidy Wilcoxson
Lost to Zayra Gomez (McMurry), 6-7 (3), 6-2, 1-0 (5)
Tess Willis
Def. Kate De Los Santos (Schreiner) 6-2, 6-0 , Default
Lost to Abby Watson (Trinity), 6-2, 6-1
Singles Competition – Flight B Consolation
Olivia Parmelly
Lost to Morgan Parnell (McMurry), Default
Mullika Seekhieo
Lost to Marlee Daniel (Schreiner), Default
Cassidy Wilcoxson
Lost to Annie Wise (Trinity), 6-2, 6-1
Singles Competition – Flight C
Megan Litton
Lost to Greer Ayers (Hendrix), 6-2, 6-3
Singles Competition – Flight C Consolation
Megan Litton
def. Laurel Turco (Mary Hardin-Baylor), 6-1, 6-1
def. Kaitlyn Renfroe (Howard Payne), 6-2, 6-1
Lost to Genna Ellinwood (Concordia), 6-1, 6-2
