BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- IUP women's tennis put together a dominant showing in doubles action at the ITA Atlantic Region Tournament, sending three of its four doubles teams into the semifinals.
The Crimson Hawks went a combined 11-1 through the first three rounds of the doubles draw, placing Ifigeneia Kafka and Charliz Tabili, Elina Mondani and Hannah Beitat, and Asel Calbay and Chia Ying Lu among the final four teams remaining.
IUP opened the tournament with a perfect 4-0 showing in the Round of 32.
The No. 7-seeded pairing of Kafka and Tabili rolled to an 8-1 victory over Salem's Aishwarya Prasad and Maria Salome Molina. Mondani and Beitat followed with an 8-2 win against California (Pa.)'s Fernanda Sandoval and Sarai Salinas Beltran.
No. 4 Calbay and Lu defeated Slippery Rock's Lucia Garcia Cortes and Anna Poranski, 8-1, while the No. 8-seeded pairing of Lea Von Kozierowski and Isabelle Oikawa Torres completed the opening-round sweep with an 8-6 victory over Millersville's Lauren Hayes and Amelia Gassert.
The Crimson Hawks remained perfect in the Round of 16.
Kafka and Tabili earned an 8-6 victory over Noemi Andreica Gordan and Sophia van der Berg, while Mondani and Beitat knocked off the No. 3-seeded pairing of Pimlaphat Lim and Saskia Soome, 8-6.
Calbay and Lu advanced with an 8-4 victory over Delaney Tingle and Gracie Clark, and Von Kozierowski and Oikawa Torres added an 8-4 win against Vitoria Maximiliano and Debra Gil.
Three IUP teams continued their runs in the quarterfinals.
Kafka and Tabili punched their ticket to the semifinals with an 8-4 victory over Emily Marshall and Yuko Sakurai. Mondani and Beitat followed with an 8-6 win against Jessica Johnson and Deline Blania-Loof.
Calbay and Lu became IUP's third semifinalist with an 8-3 victory over the No. 6-seeded pairing of Michelle Connor and Jingyi Liu.
Von Kozierowski and Oikawa Torres saw their run come to an end in the quarterfinals, falling 8-6 to No. 2 Nicole Kempton and Nadia Rodewald. The IUP pairing finished the tournament with a 2-1 record.
With three of the four remaining teams in the doubles draw, IUP is guaranteed a spot in the championship match. Mondani and Beitat will face teammates Kafka and Tabili in an all-IUP semifinal, while Calbay and Lu will compete on the other side of the bracket with an opportunity to set up an all-IUP championship match.
