Loyola begins ITA Cup Thursday

ROME, Ga. – Loyola Wolf Pack women's tennis began play at the ITA Cup on Thursday, with two doubles teams playing against top talent from around the NAIA. 

Champions of the 2022 ITA Gulf Regional, Lucy Carpenter and Fatima Vasquez automatically qualified for the tournament. They matched up against Kia Carvalho-Landell and Helga Lopez from Holy Cross College (Ind.), and the match couldn't have gotten much closer. 

After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, Carpenter and Vasquez came back to take the second set, also in a tiebreak. Ultimately, the match came down to a third-set super tiebreak, where the Wolf Pack duo was edged out 10-8. The final score line read 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (3-7), 10-8. 

Loyola also had the team of Micaela Ponce and Ariana Salgueiro-Estela, who qualified with an at-large bid, matched up against the No. 2 overall seed, Violet Apisah and Yvette Schmucker from Keiser University. The higher seed knocked off the Pack 6-2, 6-2. 

With each qualifier guaranteed to play three matches at the ITA Cup, play continues on Friday for the Wolf Pack. Carpenter and Vasquez will face Valentina Urelli and Andrea Vlasceanu from Menlo College. Meanwhile, Ponce and Salgueiro-Estela will play Breann Barger and Melanie Dveksler from Indiana Wesleyan University. 

You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.