ORLANDO – Four members of the UCF women's tennis team are gearing up to compete in the 2022 ITA Southeast Regional Championships this weekend. The tournament is set to start Thursday, Oct. 13, with the finals on Monday Oct. 17, at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex in Atlanta, Georgia.
Athletes from all 17 schools in the southeast region will be competing, including teams such as No. 9 Miami, No. 12 Georgia and No. 16 Florida. This is the Black and Gold's third collegiate event of the fall season.
Jaleesa Leslie, Marie Mattel, Nandini Sharma and Anique Kattenburg will be representing UCF while competing in the tournament. Leslie, Mattel and Sharma have already competed so far this fall, with Kattenberg making her season debut. All four will be participating in the main draw, beginning on Friday.
Mattel and Sharma wrapped up at the ITA All-American Championships this past weekend, falling in a close 8-6 contest to a Duke doubles team. Mattel, who is tabbed as the 90th overall singles player in the ITA's rankings, also competed solo, winning in a qualifying match on Monday, then falling to North Carolina's No. 31 Reilly Tran.
Sharma made the ITA preseasons rankings in doubles, with teammate Sophia Biolay, checking in a No. 56. Sharma went 16-5 in singles and 17-4 doubles last season and was named AAC player of the week at one point.
Mattel, Sharma and Leslie competed in the Fall Ranked Spotlight, the first collegiate event of the fall semester. Mattel and Sharma competed in doubles play, winning two of their three matches. Leslie is coming off a strong sophomore season, going 8-5 in singles and 7-5 in doubles.
The singles and doubles champions of this tournament will receive automatic entry into the 2022 ITA National Fall Championships next month.
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