NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State women's tennis team brings nine players to the 25th Annual ITA HBCU National Tennis Championships, which run Sept. 17-20 at the South Fulton Tennis Center. The Spartans hold the top two seeds in Flight A doubles and four of the eight seeds in Flight A singles.
Doubles opens the tournament Thursday morning. In Flight A, sophomore Julia Daroszewska and junior Yuliya Yurkova are the No. 1 seed. Senior Regina Urbiola and sophomore Yana Klimchuk are seeded second. The two teams are on opposite halves of the bracket and could meet in the final.
Urbiola and Klimchuk open with an all-Spartan Round of 16 match at 9:30 a.m. against seniors Sabina Iurea and Elena Martinez Prado. That guarantees Norfolk State a team in the quarterfinals from that section. Daroszewska and Yurkova begin at 10:30 a.m. against the winner of Asadah Ma'at/Maja Brnic and Sotelo Raya/Gabrielle Henderson.
In Flight B doubles, senior Ines Sabadie and sophomore Kayla Kennedy face Madison Molock and Taylor O'Neal at 9:30 a.m. The winner advances to meet Lyric Wilson and Chloe Goins or No. 3 seed Mwakha/Naomi Blanks.
Singles play follows Thursday afternoon. In Flight A, Urbiola (Querétaro, Mexico) is the No. 1 seed and Daroszewska is No. 2. Yurkova (Vitebsk, Belarus) is seeded third and Klimchuk (Minsk, Belarus) is No. 5. Urbiola and Klimchuk share the top half of the bracket, and Yurkova and Daroszewska share the bottom half. That gives Norfolk State a chance to fill all four semifinal spots, with a possible Urbiola–Daroszewska final.
All four Flight A singles seeds have first-round byes and play Round of 16 matches Thursday evening. At 5 p.m., Urbiola faces the winner of Hana Bajramovic and Samira Khazieva, and Klimchuk meets the winner of Katherine Grados and Maja Brnic. At 5:30 p.m., Yurkova takes on the winner of Ivanna De Gregorio and Serena Bryan, and Daroszewska faces the winner of Tanyaradzwa Midzi and Paula Corbalan.
In Flight B singles, senior Sabina Iurea (Ploiesti, Romania) is the No. 3 seed. She awaits the winner of Ratidzo Mabukwa and Anais Yakan. Two Spartans open Flight B play at 12:30 p.m. Kennedy, a Chesapeake, Va., native, faces Ma'at. The winner meets the winner of No. 8 seed Melissa Nanjala Mwakha and Matea Andelic. Prado (Sevilla, Spain) meets Melis Sakiroglu for a spot against No. 5 seed Melisa Mekic. Kennedy and Prado are both in the top half and could meet in the semifinals.
Two seniors represent Norfolk State in Flight C singles. Irina Iurea (Ploiesti, Romania) plays Amelia Tatafu at 1:30 p.m., and the winner draws No. 1 seed Lyric Wilson. Sabadie (Génissieux, France) plays Brielle Brade at 2 p.m. for a shot at No. 5 seed Lauren Oliver.
All singles draws include a consolation bracket for first-round losers. Play continues through Sunday's finals.
Follow the Spartans
Live draws and results are available at HBCUtennis.com. Follow @nsuathletics on social media for updates throughout the weekend.
