ST. LOUIS, MO (May 25, 2024) -- Senior
Zoe Kava of the Tufts University women's tennis team posted a pair of wins at the 2024 Division III Women's Tennis Individual Championships Saturday, moving into the quarterfinals at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis, MO.
With the victories, Kava will now play Sunday at 11 a.m. against Sywia Mikos of the University of Chicago at Forest Lake Tennis Club. The match is being moved inside due to inclement weather.
Saturday was a strong day of action for the Jumbos senior, as Kava started the day's action with a straight set win over Erin McCusker of Vassar College 7-5, 6-2. In the opening set, Kava fell behind 5-2 but battled back to win the next five games for the first set victory. During the run, Kava had to fight off three set points.
Kava used that momentum to roll in the second set, opening up a 2-2 score in the second stanza with two breaks of serve along with holding on her two service games to move into the second round.
In the second round of action, Kava battled Audrey Yoon of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps-Colleges and outlasted her counterpart 7-6 (7), 1-6, 6-3. Kava once again had to rally in the first set, as she shook off a 5-3 deficit to tie the set at five after breaking Yoon's serve at 5-4. The set went to a tiebreak, and Kava finally clinched the set on her fourth chance at 9-7.
The second set was all Yoon with the 6-1 win, but Kava reset and won the final three games including a break at 4-3 of Yoon to clinch her second victory of the afternoon.
The quarterfinal appearance for Kava marks the longest trip into the NCAA Championships since Elle Christensen won the NCAA singles' title in 2022.
--JUMBOS--
