Gamecock Pair Makes ITA Regional Semifinals
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – South Carolina women’s tennis junior Kaitlyn Carnicella and senior Misa Malkin combined for three wins in the ITA Carolina Regional Championships on Sunday at the Chewning Tennis Center. The pair advanced to the semifinals of the main and consolation singles brackets, respectively.
Carnicella opened the day with her first top-50 win as a Gamecock with a gutsy rally in the main draw quarterfinals. No. 41 Emma Jackson of Duke, the tournament’s No. 4 seed, opened with a 6-4 win in the first set, but the Gamecock transfer was undeterred, claiming the second set by the same score. With her opponent on the back foot, Carnicella pounced early in the third and stormed to the 6-1 win to move into the tournament semifinals for the first time in her career. There she faced another Duke Blue Devil in No. 73 Eleana Yu. The tournament’s No. 8 seed, who had dropped just one set in the tournament, made a single service break stick in the first and held Carnicella off in the second to collect a 6-4, 6-3 victory.
Malkin, meanwhile, continued to thrive in the consolation bracket on Sunday. She wasted little time dispatching Emilia Roslund of Gardner Webb in 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals. The Gamecock veteran drew Romana Cisovska of rival Clemson in the semifinals and struck first with a quick 6-2 first-set victory before dropping the second 6-3 to set up a super tiebreak to decide the match. In the final set, Malkin dominated Cisovska 10-2 to advance to the consolation final.
Complete draws, schedules and results for the ITA All-American Championships will be posted on the ITA Carolina Regionals Tournament Page. Live video and live scores are also available.
Under the new format for NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, players and doubles teams in the ITA Regional Championships can qualify right into the NCAA Championships bracket. The two singles finalists in each region will punch their ticket directly into the NCAA Singles Championships, and the doubles champion from each region will join them in the NCAA Doubles Championships.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWTennis) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s tennis season.
South Carolina Results
Singles Quarterfinals
Kaitlyn Carnicella (SC) def. (41) Emma Jackson (DU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
Singles Semifinals
(73) Eleana Yu (DU) def. Kaitlyn Carnicella (SC) 6-4, 6-3
Singles Consolation Quarterfinals
Misa Malkin (SC) def. Emilia Roslund (GWU) 6-0, 6-2
Singles Consolation Semifinals
Misa Malkin (SC) def. Romana Cisovska (CLE) 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (2)
