PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Valdosta State women's tennis team participated in the USTA/ITA South Regional Championship hosted by the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Fla. on Sept. 25-28, and strong performances among the Lady Blazers led to a great representation in the 'toughest region of the country.'

The Lady Blazers fared better in singles than in doubles, as sophomore Bea Morales Hernandez and junior Laura Ubeda advanced to the last eight. Morales claimed a bye in the first round before defeating Nova Southeastern's Irina Constantinide 11-9 in the third set. Equally tight was Morales-Hernandez's quarterfinal match against Lynn University's Diana Bogolii, but this time she came up short 11-9 in a thrilling match-tiebreak.

Ubeda's comeback after a shoulder surgery and almost one-year break looked very promising. The junior claimed a 7-5, 6-1 victory in the opening round over Florida Tech's Chloe Chanley, followed by a solid 7-5, 6-3 win over NSU's Anastassia Rubel. In the quarterfinal match, Ubeda faced Barry's No. 1 seeded player, Sonja Larsen, but Larsen prevailed 7-5, 6-0 to secure her spot in the semifinal.

Also in action for the Blazers was Sabrina Schmidt, a returning sophomore, who impressed in her first round match beating Embry-Riddle's Anna Gotz 7-5, 6-2, before falling to the eventual champion from Saint Leo Natalia Siedliska in two tight sets, 3-6, 4-6.

The last Lady Blazer in action, junior Joanna Lario pulled off a first round victory over Lee's Marta G. Nieto 6-4, 6-3, before falling to a strong West Florida player Kat Dikosavljevic.

Graduate assistant coach Dominika Jasova was proud of the results in singles.
"We compete in the toughest region of the country, so placing two of our girls in the top 8 is a great success," stated Jasova. "It shows that we can keep up with the best teams."

The VSU women's doubles teams of Bea Morales-Hernandez and Sabrina Schmidt, along with the team of Laura Ubeda and Joanna Lario, both came up short in the first round against two solid opponents from Lynn University and West Florida 8-2 and 8-0, respectively.

The regional championship wraps up fall action for the women's tennis team. The season is set to start in February of 2016.