Carpenter posts 2-1 record in her final ITA Cup

ROME, Ga. – The annual fall championships from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the ITA Cup, concluded for Loyola's Lucy Carpenter on Saturday at the Rome Tennis Center. The Wolf Pack's graduate student, who was a finalist at September's ITA Gulf Regional, finished with two wins and one loss in her fourth and final ITA Cup. 

"I'm proud of Lucy's effort this weekend to close out her ITA Cup career with class," said head coach Matt Llewellyn. "She yet again established herself as one of the top players in NAIA."

Thursday's Round of 16 matched Carpenter with Anna Bintsarovskaya of St. Francis (Ill.), who won the singles title at the ITA Central-East Regional. It was quick work for Carpenter, who won 6-0, 6-2. 

Her Round of 16 win set up a quarterfinal where Carpenter would face 2023 ITA Cup champion Justine Lespes, the No. 3 overall seed from Georgia Gwinnett. Unlike the result in the 2024 NAIA National Championship quarterfinal, where Lespes defeated Carpenter in straight sets, Friday's quarterfinal went to a deciding third set. Lespes prevailed in the end, however, with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 score. 

Carpenter's last match featured two top-10 players in last season's final ITA rankings, as No. 5 Carpenter played No. 9 Jimena Ramirez of Grace College. After a close first set that ended in a tiebreak, the higher ranked player triumphed, as Carpenter earned a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 result to close out the competition. 

"It was a great tournament," Carpenter said. "I would have loved to go further, but I'm really happy with the result. It was a great environment at the tournament playing with the best players in the country."

After four appearances at the ITA Cup, Carpenter will finish with a 8-4 overall record at the tournament. She became Loyola's first student-athlete to qualify for the ITA Cup during her 2020 freshman season, when she also went 2-1 in singles competition. She and Fatima Vasquez also qualified in two consecutive years in doubles competition (2021, 2022), with the duo going 4-2 overall. 

"She and I started in Rome her freshman year," Llewellyn said. "To finish here with a solid win to get her to a 8-4 career record at ITA Cup feels amazing. It's been a special weekend I will never forget because of who she is and what she has meant to me and for our program. We're excited for spring and more memories to come."