Mertena, Staines Advance to ITA Ohio Valley Regional Semi Final

Saturday, October 19

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

University of Tennessee

ITA Ohio Valley Regionals

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2019.03.08 - Tennessee vs. Texas A&M

Photo by: Austin Perryman/Tennessee Athletics

Mertena, Staines Advance to ITA Ohio Valley Regional Semi Final

October 19, 2019 | Women's Tennis

By: Ricky Martinez

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Sophomore Rebeka Mertena and junior Kaitlin Staines won two matches each on Saturday to advance to the ITA Ohio Valley Regional semifinal.

Mertena won both of her matches in two sets, starting with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Louisville's Jelena Vujanic. She closed out the day with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Memphis' Laura Bente.

Staines won her first match of the day 6-2, 6-2 over Louisville's Nikolina Jovic and defeated Vanderbilt's Marcella Cruz with the same score.

Mertena and Staines both improve to 4-0 in Murfreesboro and will compete on Sunday in the semifinals.

Tenika McGiffin won her first match of the day over Louisville's Raven Neely, 6-4, 6-1, before falling in the quarterfinal to Kentucky's Akvile Parazinskaite 6-4, 6-2.

In the consolation bracket, sophomore Julie Ball won a pair of matches. Freshman Callie Creath won a match and lost one.

Saturday's Results
Main Draw
Tenika McGiffin def. Raven Neely (Louisville) 6-2, 6-4
Rebeka Mertena def. Jelena Vujanic (Louisville) 6-4, 6-1
Kaitlin Staines def. Nikolina Jovic (Louisville) 6-2, 6-2
Akvile Parazinskaite (Kentucky) def. Tenika McGiffin 6-4, 6-2
Rebeka Mertena def. Laura Bente (Memphis) 6-0, 6-3
Kaitlin Staines def. Marcella Cruz (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 6-2