EAST MEADOW, N.Y. – Jess Perkins of the Saint Anselm College women's tennis team has advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 ITA East Regional Championships after three consecutive wins, including two over top-six seeds, at Eisenhower Park on Sunday and Monday.
ITA Regional Homepage | Tournament Draw | Results
Perkins, seeded No. 16 in the draw, comfortably won her first-round match 6-2, 6-1 against Line Aasen of Queens (N.Y) to advance to the Round of 16 for the second consecutive season. In the Round of 16, Perkins came up against No. 3 seed Melanie Benyadi of NYIT and came back from a set down to record a 4-6, 7-5, 10-4 victory to move on to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Perkins came through with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over No. 6 seed Laure-Anne Josso of Chestnut Hill to book her spot in the semifinals. In Tuesday's semifinal, she will face Merrimack's Grace Messina, the No. 2 seed, who edged Perkins 6-1, 4-6, 10-6 back on Sept. 22.
The teams participating in the East Region ITA Tournament on the women's side are NYIT (hosts), Caldwell University, Assumption College, Saint Anselm College, Molloy College, Post University, District of Columbia, Le Moyne College, Chestnut Hill College, University of the Sciences, Southern New Hampshire University, LIU Post, Adelphi University and Wilmington University.
The singles and doubles champions from each of the eight regionals will advance to the ITA National Small College Championships, which annually crowns the men's and women's singles and doubles national champions in each of the ITA's four small college divisions (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College).
The ITA National Small College Championship is the only national championship event for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. The singles and doubles champions at each divisional level will then compete to become the overall "Super Bowl" champions, which earn wild cards into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships with the chance to win the culminating event held at the site of the US Open – the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
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