From Washington University Athletics
Washington University in St. Louis senior Aly Coran and junior Rebecca Ho teamed up to defeat a pair of teammates in the doubles championship at the 2015 USTA/ITA Central Region Championships hosted by Kalamazoo College Friday-Sunday.
Coran and Ho battled to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win over sophomore Grace Deering and junior Kaylan Griffith in the championship match of the 64-team doubles draw. By winning the Regional title, Coran and Ho advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships Oct. 15-18 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C.
As the No. 3 seed in the doubles draw, Coran and Ho defeated teams from Oberlin College and Principia College in the first two rounds Friday. In the Round of 16 Saturday, they picked up an 8-3 victory over the ninth-seeded team of from Kenyon, before knocking off the No. 6-seeded team of Kaela Bynoe and Rachel Kim from University of Chicago in the quarterfinals. Coran and Ho then earned an 8-6 victory over the top-seeded team of Nithya Kanagasegar and Sara Zargham from Case Western Reserve University to advance to the championship match.
Deering and Griffith entered the weekend as the No. 10 seed, and earned wins over teams from DePauw University and Kalamazoo Friday. They upset No. 5-seeded Nancy Benda and Marie Holaway of Hope College 8-5 in the Round of 16, before topping Grace Dowling and Christi Valicenti of Lake Forest College in the quarterfinals. Sunday morning, Deering and Griffith earned an 8-2 win over fifth-seeded Dana Goggin and Ali MacDonald of Augustana College in the semifinal.
WashU also had four singles players in action Sunday. Sophomore Kate Lee won four matches Friday and Saturday to advance to the quarterfinal round of the A singles. She won the first set against second-seeded Ariana Iranpour of Chicago 6-1, before dropping the next two sets 6-3, 6-3. Iranpour went on to win her semifinal match in straight sets to advance to Monday's final.
After losing her first match of the 128-person singles draw, freshman Brigitte Hodge won six matches to win the A singles consolation bracket. Among the six victories was a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 16-seeded Mayada Audeh of Oberlin and an 8-4 win in the consolation semifinals over seventh-seeded Courtney Brown of Denison University.
A pair of freshman battled through the 64-person B singles draw to play for the championship. Danielle Buchinsky defeated Mackenzie Phillips 6-2, 6-4 to claim the B singles championship. Buchinsky dominated her side of the bracket, dropping just three games in her five wins en route to the championship match.
The USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, which Coran and Ho qualified for by winning the regional doubles title, are comprised of the eight regional champions (and/or at-large selections) for both singles and doubles from NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges. The singles and doubles champions at each divisional level then compete to become the overall "Super Bowl" champions.
Doubles Results:
Aly Coran/Rebecca Ho: 6-0 (champion)
Grace Deering/Kaylan Griffith: 5-1 (runner-up)
Mindy Borovsky/Erin Wong: 1-1 (round of 32)
Lisa Chionis/Kate Lee: 2-2 (consolation quarterfinal)
A Singles Results:
Lisa Chionis: 1-1 (round of 64)
Aly Coran: 2-1 (round of 16)
Grace Deering: 1-1 (round of 32)
Kaylan Griffith: 1-1 (round of 32)
Rebecca Ho: 2-1 (round of 16)
Brigitte Hodge: 6-1 (consolation champion)
Kate Lee: 4-1 (quarterfinal)
B Singles Results:
Mindy Borovsky: 1-1 (round of 32)
Danielle Buchinsky: 6-0 (champion)
Mackenzie Phillips: 5-1 (runner-up)
Lily Schroeder: 3-1 (quarterfinal)
Notes:
• Coran increased her career win total to 111, tying her with Kat Copiozo (1998-2002) for 15th on WashU's all-time career wins list.
• With her 8-1 record on the weekend, Ho brought her career record to 98-23, two victories shy of becoming the 24th member of WashU's 100-win club.