CSUN's Stay at ITA Regionals Highlighted by Ho and Zhytelna's Win Over USC in Rd. of 16

SAN DIEGO, Calif.---CSUN Women's Tennis completed a busy weekend of action in San Diego at the ITA Southwest Regionals from Oct. 17-20, highlighted by a quarterfinal appearance from the doubles team of Yuliia Zhytelna and Angela Ho after defeating USC in the Round of 16.

Sydney Wilson also had a strong showing at the UC San Diego Triton Fall Invitational (Oct. 17-19) where she advanced to the finals of the singles tournament.

ITA SOUTHWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Zhytelna and Ho opened up their tournament run with a Round of 64 victory over Allaire Berl and Joelle Lanz from Hawai'i by an 8-0 score last Friday. A day later, the Matador pair went on to knock off LMU's Firona Arrese and Isabella Tcherkes-Zade 8-5 in the Round of 32.

In the Round of 16, Zhytelna and Ho were matched up with USC's Parker Fry and Maia Sung, a pair ranked No. 44 in the Preseason ITA doubles rankings. The Matador pair though would not be denied in the match as Zhytelna and Ho marched on with an 8-3 win to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Sunday's doubles quarterfinal put CSUN's duo against Pepperdine's No. 24 ranked Savannah Broadus and Vivian Yang. The Matadors' pair took a 6-5 lead in the match, but Broadus and Yang were able to pull out a tight 8-6 decision to move on to the semifinals.

Zhytelna also competed in the singles Round of 64 where she lost in straight sets to UCLA's Elise Wagle 6-1, 6-0.

Earlier at the ITA Southwest Regional, Emma Moratalla Sanz picked up a victory over Haily Huynh of UC Irvine 6-3, 7-6 in a qualifying singles match before falling to Vesa Gjinaj from San Diego State 6-2, 6-7, 6-2. Ho was also a winner in her first qualifying singles match, beating Karissa Ghigiarelli from Arizona 6-3, 6-3, but fell later in the day to Aiya Nupbay from Arizona State 6-4, 6-3.

Moratalla Sanz though bounced back to win her final two singles matches to close the weekend at 3-1. On Saturday, Moratalla Sanz defeated Stephanie Shogreen from Arizona 6-1, 3-6, 10-7 while she went on to down Belen Nevenhoven from Arizona 2-6, 6-2, 10-6.

Victoria Santibañez Luna also finished at 3-1 on the weekend in singles play. After dropping a qualifying match on Thursday, Santibañez Luna defeated Emma Katarina Forgac from Hawai'i in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 then beat Makeilah Nepomuceno from Hawai'i 2-6, 6-4, 10-6. Her third win came against Paulina Franco from Long Beach State 4-6, 6-3, 12-10.

In other doubles action, Santibañez Luna and Cindy Ung dropped a Round of 64 match to LMU's Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik and Aanstasia Bozova 8-5 while Tallia Harper and Moratalla Sanz fell to Cal State Fullerton's Sein Myoung and Mariia Nikitash 8-3. Harper though notched doubles wins later in the weekend as she teamed with Ung to an 8-3 win over Katarina Forgac and Joelle Lanz from Hawai'i and she paired with Moratalla Sanz to a win over Emma Tutoveanu and Anna-Marie from UC Santa Barbara.

In all, CSUN notched 15 total victories across singles and doubles play at the 2024 ITA Southwest Regionals.

TRITON FALL INVITATIONAL
Wilson had a stellar showing in the singles play at the Triton Fall Invitational. Her weekend began with a Round of 16 comeback victory over UC San Diego's Kamya Nair 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 before she picked up a quarterfinal win over Cal Poly's Sarah MacCallum 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Wilson went on to come from behind in a semifinal match against Nour Khayat as the Matador freshman picked up a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win to advance to the finals. A championship victory was not in the cards though as Natalie Lynch from Cal Poly claimed a straight sets decision 6-1, 6-0.

Also in singles play, Madison Shepperson picked up a Round of 16 win over UCSD's Adriana Tabares, rallying for a 0-6, 6-4, 6-1 decision. Khayat though ended Shepperson's tournament run with a quarterfinal 6-2, 7-6 win. Shepperson did bounce back to pick up a singles win on Saturday, knocking off Isabella Pitchford from UC Irvine (6-2, retired)

Wilson and Shepperson teamed up in doubles play, falling in the quarterfinal round to UC Irvine's Pitchford and Yen Nhi Huyhn 8-3. The CSUN duo would end the weekend with doubles wins over UCSD's Nair and Athena Wardy 6-2, 2-6, 11-9 and UCI's Lindsay Kim and Khayat 8-3.

In all, CSUN registered six victories across singles and doubles play at UC San Diego.

POST MATCH COMMENTS
"It was an amazing experience this past weekend at ITA," said Zhytelna. "Angela and I really found our rhythm and played some of our best tennis. Beating USC was definitely a highlight -- we came in with a lot of focus and determination, and it paid off. The energy from the crowd and the support from our team really fueled us throughout the matches. We're proud of how deep we went and are already looking forward to building on this momentum for the rest of the fall and for the future spring season."

"After the Big West Qualifiers in Long Beach, myself and Yuliia have brought our games together," said Ho. "We strategized our game plans for each team we faced and tried our best to enjoy the moment. We did a great job supporting each other when needed and played to our strengths. Beating USC felt really good because it showed me that our hard work is paying off."

UP NEXT
CSUN Women's Tennis completes the fall schedule by hosting the CSUN Fall Tournament from Nov. 8-11 at Matador Tennis Complex.

COMPLETE WEEKEND CSUN RESULTS

ITA Southwest Regional – Oct. 17-20

Thursday, Oct. 17
Qualifying Singles
Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) def. Haily Huynh (UCI) 6-3, 7-6
Angela Ho (CSUN) def. Karissa Ghigiarelli (ARI) 6-3, 6-3
Kennedy Buntrock (CP) def. Tallia Harper (CSUN) 0-6, 6-1, 6-4
Jessica MacCallum (CP) def. Victoria Santibañez Luna (CSUN) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4

Vesa Gjinaj (SDSU) def. Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2
Aiya Nupbay (ASU) def. Angela Ho (CSUN) 6-4, 6-3

Friday, Oct. 18
Doubles Round of 64:
Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik/Anastasia Bozova (LMU) def. Victoria Santibañez Luna/Cindy Ung (CSUN) 8-5
Sein Myoung/Mariia Nikitash (CSF) def. Tallia Harper/Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) 8-3
Yuliia Zhytelna/Angela Ho (CSUN) def. Allaire Berl/Joelle Lanz (UH) 8-0

Singles Round of 64:
Elise Wagle (UCLA) def. Yuliia Zhytelna (CSUN) 6-1, 6-0

Extra Singles:
Makeilah Mepomuceno (UH) def. Tallia Harper (CSUN) 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
Victoria Santibañez Luna (CSUN) def. Emma Katarina Forgac (UH) 6-4, 6-4
Cindy Ung (CSUN) def. Katelyn Vu (UCSD) 6-4, 6-3

Saturday, Oct. 19
Doubles Round of 32:
Yullia Zhytelna/Angela Ho (CSUN) def. Fiona Arrese/Isabella Tcherkes-Zade (LMU) 8-5

Doubles Round of 16:
Yuliia Zhytelna/Angela Ho (CSUN) def. Parker Fry/Maia Sung (USC) 8-3

Extra Doubles:
Romane Mosse/Kennedy Buntrock (CP) def. Victoria Santibañez Luna/Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) 8-5
Tallia Harper/Cindy Ung (CSUN) def. Emma Katarina Forgac/Joelle Lanz (UH) 8-3

Extra Singles:
Zoe Olmos (SDSU) def. Tallia Harper (CSUN) 6-1, 3-6, 10-5
Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) def. Stephanie Shogreen (ARI) 6-1, 3-6, 10-7
Victoria Santibañez Luna (CSUN) def. Makeilah Nepomuceno (UH) 2-6, 6-4, 10-6
Yuliia Zhytelna (CSUN) def. Kim-Michaela Zahraj (LMU) 2-6, 6-4, 10-3
Alexandra Benedetto (UCSB) def. Cindy Ung (CSUN) 5-7, 5-7

Sunday, Oct. 20
Doubles Quarterfinals:
Savannah Broadus/Vivian Yang (PEP) def. Yuliia Zhytelna/Angela Ho (CSUN) 8-6

Extra Doubles:
Tallia Harper/Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) def. Emma Tutoveanu/Anna-Marie Weissheim (UCSB) 6-3

Extra Singles:
Victoria Santibañez Luna (CSUN) def. Paulina Franco (LBSU) 4-6, 6-3, 12-10
Emma Moratalla Sanz (CSUN) def. Belen Nevenhoven (ARI) 2-6, 6-2, 10-6
Sydney Wilson (CSUN) def. Naomi Nguyen (UCSD) 6-4, 6-2

Triton Fall Invitational - Oct 17-19

Thursday, Oct. 17
Main Draw Singles - Round of 16:
Sydney Wilson (CSUN) def. Kamya Nair (UCSD) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Madison Shepperson (CSUN) def. Adriana Tabares (UCSD) 0-6, 6-4, 6-1

Main Draw Singles – Quarterfinals:
Sydney Wilson (CSUN) def. Sarah MacCallum (CP) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Nour Khayat (UCI) def. Madison Shepperson (CSUN) 6-2, 7-6 (3)

Main Draw Doubles – Quarterfinals:
Bella Pitchford/Yen Nhi Huynh (UCI) def. Sydney Wilson/Madison Shepperson (CSUN) 8-3

Friday – Oct. 18
Main Draw Singles – Semifinals:
Sydney Wilson (CSUN) def. Nour Khayat (UCI) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4

Extra Singles:
Sarah MacCallum (CP) def. Madison Shepperson (CSUN) 6-3, 4-6, 10-3

Extra Doubles:
Madison Shepperson/Sydney Wilson (CSUN) def. (UCSD) Kamya Nair/Athena Wardy 6-2, 2-6, 11-9

Saturday, Oct. 19
Main Draw Singles – Finals:
Natalie Lynch (CP) def. Sydney Wilson (CSUN) 6-1, 6-0

Extra Singles:
Madison Shepperson (CSUN) def. Isabella Pitchford (UCI) 6-2, retired

Extra Doubles:
Madison Shepperson/Sydney Wilson (CSUN) def. Lindsay Kim/ Nour Khayat (UCI) 8-3

#GoMatadors

CSUN's Stay at ITA Regionals Highlighted by Ho and Zhytelna's Win Over USC in Rd. of 16

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Players Mentioned

Tallia Harper

Angela Ho

Emma Moratalla Sanz

Madison Shepperson

Cindy Ung

Sydney Wilson

Yuliia Zhytelna