ST. LOUIS, MO – The Principia Women's Tennis team closed out their fall season at the ITA Regional Championships held locally this year at Wash U. The Regional Championships only accepted three of our players into the tournament.
Bissola Lassissi and
Kimbeley Peterson were in the ITA Main tournament for singles and doubles, while
Kelsie Huss was in the Blue tournament for singles only.
Huss had a tough first round match against Sarah Lopez from Lake Forrest. She competed well playing her scrappy, consistent game, but was only able to win three games each set. In the consolation singles semifinals (only an 8-game set), Huss forced her opponent into errors with her steady game. It was mentally exhausting for her opponent to know that Huss will run down every ball and return it, often with a high lob.
One of Huss' greatest strengths is to be able to reset each point if she gets in trouble with her great defensive skills and her mindset to never give up on a ball and to never miss. She was down 4-3 and had to break back to even the score, and then she won her serving games while breaking her opponent's serve twice to finish out the match. The finals were not as compelling as Huss was steady and made very few errors to capture the consolation final 8-1.
The ITA singles and doubles competition brings in the best from the region. Lassissi and Peterson faced tough opponents in both doubles and singles, bowing out of each event in the first round. In the consolation, Principia's doubles team won their first match 8-4, but then faced our conference rival, Greenville's #1 team. They pushed them and took the lead for a short while, but they had difficulty with their own serves and double faulted away a couple of games. The opponents rallied from behind and went on to win 8-6.
In the singles consolation, Peterson competed and served well, but she was not on the winning side of the many tiebreaker points. Despite the loss, it was good showing for her in her freshman year at this competition.
Lassissi won her first consolation match against a Greenville opponent decided in a third set tiebreaker. In the consolation round of 16, Lassissi fought off some strong baseline play with her own commanding ground strokes to win the first set 6-1. In the second set, the roles were reversed and Lassissi started making errors off of the opponents deep ground strokes.
The deciding ten point match tiebreaker started with Lassissi going down 0-2 and then 2-3. In a long, tough point that saw Lassissi performing in a "Kelsie-like" way – running for every ball and making defensive strikes – she evened the score at 3-3. The players were even through 7-7 when Lassissi went ahead to 9-7, and she finally won the tiebreaker 10-8 to take the match.
In the consolation quarterfinal a few hours later, Lassissi had a tough time finding her game and timing, and she lost to strong opponent 6-2, 6-4. This match closed out Principia 2022 ITA tournament and fall season. The players are improved this fall season and are rising in their match play both tactically and technically.
The team will start their spring season the first day of the next semester and will have the opportunity to compete for an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championships due to Principia tennis joining the UMAC conference. Stay tuned and come support us in 2023!
Complete Tournament Results
| Blue Draw: Kelsie Huss |
Opponent |
Score |
| Main Draw |
Sara Lopez |
Loss: 6-3,6-3 |
| Consolation |
Libby Moog |
SF Win 8-5 |
| Consolation |
Christina Duvall |
F Win 8-1 |
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| ITA Doubles : Lassissi / Peterson |
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| Main Draw |
MJ Campos, Margaret Bugnacki |
Loss: 8--0 |
| Consolation |
Kina Ehlers, Claire Cardie |
Win 8--4 |
| Consolation |
Addison Brannon, Mireia Birosta |
Loss 8--6 |
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| ITA Singles Kimbeley Peterson |
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| Main Draw |
Erin Storrer |
Loss: 6-0,6-0 |
| Consolation |
Peyton Oda |
Loss: 6-1,6-1 |
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| ITA Singles: Bissola Lassissi |
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| Main Draw (4th Seed) |
Lily McCloskey |
Loss: 6-1,6-1 |
| Consolation |
Addison Brannon |
Win: 5-7,7-6(2),10-4 |
| Consolation |
Brianna Barconi |
Win: 6-1,2-6,10-8 |
| QF Consolation: |
Erika Pontillo |
Loss: 6-2,6-4 |
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