Iowa State Prepares for ITA Regionals

AMES, Iowa - For the first time this fall, all seven athletes are making the trip as a team to a tournament to play in the ITA Regionals, which begin Thursday, Oct. 13 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Both singles and doubles finalists of the ITA Regionals will receive bids to compete in the ITA Fall Nationals, Nov. 3-6 in San Diego, California. In 2021, Thasaporn Naklo was the first Iowa State athlete crowned the central region singles champion after defeating Malkia Ngounoue from Kansas. In doubles, the Cyclones had both finalist bids locked down, as Miska Kadleckova and Sofia Cabezas defeated Naklo and Christin Hsieh to claim the central region doubles title.

With only three tournaments left in their fall season, head coach Boomer Saia and his athletes are peaking at just the right time. Most recently, at the Northwestern Invitational, Cabezas, Anna Supapitch Kuearum, and Chie Kezuka combined for eight wins and just one loss in singles play.

Highlighting the tournament for Iowa State was Cabezas. The Valencia, Venezuela native went undefeated in her singles matches, including a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Northwestern's No. 68 ranked Clarissa Hand. Cabezas would go on to be named Cyclone Club Student Athlete of the Week for her performance.

At the ITA All-American Championships, Kadleckova and Ange Oby Kajuru showed their dominance, qualifying for the main draw in doubles and advancing to the round of 16. The Iowa State duo ended the week with three wins and two losses, including two over ranked opponents. Kadleckova and Kajuru defeated Southern Methodist's No. 54-ranked Hadley Doyle and Jackie Nylander in the round of 64 with a score of 8-1. The pair then pulled off an upset win, beating No. 11 Miyuka Kimoto and Polina Kozyreva from Syracuse in the round of 32 with a score of 7-6 (1), 6-1.

The Cyclones have another athlete on the verge of reaching career win No. 100. Nearly two weeks after Naklo celebrated this accomplishment, Kezuka is just four wins shy from 100 collegiate wins. Kezuka currently has an all time record of 96-71, including a team-high 10 wins to date this season.

Hsieh is set to make her season debut this week at the ITA Regionals. The senior from Taipei, Taiwan went 6-6 in singles play and 22-14 in doubles action last season, including two victories against ranked opponents while paired with Naklo.

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Players Mentioned

Sofia Cabezas

Christin Hsieh

Miska Kadleckova

Ange Oby Kajuru

Chie Kezuka

Anna Supapitch Kuearum

Thasaporn Naklo

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics