FLUSHING, N.Y. – Competing in the 2023 ITA Singles and Doubles East Regional Tournament, the Queens College women's tennis team would have representation all the way until Sunday evening of the four day tournament.
Graduate student
Eva Rivoal (Saint Denis de Pile, France) would be the lone Knights to advance to the Quarterfinal round of the Singles Tournament, while on the doubles side, the pair of senior
Maja Makal (Bialystok, Poland) / junior
Saga Berggren (Uddevalla, Sweden) would advance to the Quarterfinal round as well.
Doubles Tournament
Pairing with her new teammate, Makal along with Berggren were ranked third to begin the tournament. The new pair earned a bye in the Round of 64 as they began their quest in the Round of 32.
In their first match, the duo matched up against the Chestnut Hill College duo of Claudia Rasilla Romero/Romi Meirovich and would be victorious with an 8-3 victory to advance to the Round of 16.
In the next round, the pair matched up against the District of Columbia pair of Sofia Bellucco/Polina Zelentsova who were ranked ninth in the tournament. It would be a back-and-forth affair before the Knights duo earned an 8-6 victory Saturday evening.
Having advanced to the Quarterfinals, the pair matched up against the #9 ranked Adelphi University duo of Katarina Liedbeck/Roisin Boyd on Sunday afternoon.
But the Knights pair run would end in the quarterfinal round as they fell to the final score of 8-4.
Singles Tournament
In the singles tournament, unranked Rioval would have an impressive run as she was the lone Knight to advance to the Quarterfinal Round Sunday evening.
Rioval began the tournament in the Round of 128 and would earn a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Meirovich to set up a meeting with University of New Haven Karim Carreras who entered the tournament ranked #26.
Rivoal would defeat Carreras in straight sets to the score of 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the Round of 16.
Next, she would match up against #7 ranked Liedbeck and would earn her third straight victory with a two-set sweep of 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday as the graduate student advanced to Day 3 of the tournament.
On Sunday, Rivoal matched up against Dominican University of New York Bipasha Mehn. It would be back and forth first set but Rivoal earned a first set victory of 7-6
(7-4) before cruising in the second set with a 6-1 victory for her fourth straight victory of the tournament.
Having knocked off two ranked opponents already, Rivoal would match up against #6 ranked Jessica Purdy of Wilmington University.
But Rivoal's quest for an ITA Singles Tournament Championship would end in the Quarterfinal as the French native had to retire hurt.
For the second straight year, the Knights would have representations in the latter stages of the ITA East Regional Tournament.
UP NEXT: Head coach
Alan Nagel and the Knights will now use the week to prepare for their season opener on Saturday (Sept. 23) afternoon as they travel to Sparkill, N.Y. with a matchup against defending East Coast Conference champions Spartans of Saint Thomas Aquinas College. First serve is set for noon.
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