Texas women’s tennis put two pairs on the semifinal track at the ITA All-American Championships in Cary, N.C., with junior Rose Marie Nijkamp and junior Carmen Herea each helping fuel a strong Friday for the Longhorns.
Nijkamp did the heavy lifting in singles, winning twice to reach the semifinals. The No. 26 player and 16 seed opened with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No.
53 Zuzanna Kubacha of Baylor, then moved on after No. 31 Aspen Schuman of Duke retired while Nijkamp was ahead 3-0 in the first set.
That sets up a semifinal meeting with 2 seed and No. 3 Luciana Perry of Ohio State on Saturday at 10 a.m.
ET/9 a.m. CT.
Herea also spent Friday in singles, though her run in the consolation bracket ended after a split pair of matches. She beat No.
116 Olivia Traynor of Michigan, 6-1, 6-3, in the morning before falling to No. 16 Anastasiia Grechkina of Pepperdine, 0-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The day ended with a doubles comeback. Nijkamp and Herea, the No. 17 team, rallied past No.
34 Lexington Reed and Kristina Paskauskas of Texas A&M, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (2), using the superbreaker to punch their ticket to the semifinals. They’ll face 6 seed No.
8 Maddy Zampardo/Susanna Maltby of UNC on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m.
CT.
Singles Main Draw Round of 16 - Friday, Sept. 25
16 seed #26 Rose Marie Nijkamp (TEX) def. #53 Zuzanna Kubacha (BAY), 7-5, 6-2
Singles Main Draw Quarterfinals - Friday, Sept. 25
16 seed #26 Rose Marie Nijkamp (TEX) def. #31 Aspen Schuman (DUKE), 3-0, ret.
Singles Consolation Draw Round of 32 - Friday, Sept. 25
#2 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. #116 Olivia Traynor (MICH), 6-1, 6-3
Singles Consolation Draw Round of 16 - Friday, Sept. 25
#16 Anastasiia Grechkina (PEPP) def. #2 Carmen Herea (TEX), 0-6, 6-3, 6-3
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