The power and grace of some of the nation’s best female tennis players will be on display this week as the NJCAA Women’s Division I National Tennis Championship Tournament takes place in Rose City.
Tyler Junior College and SPORTyler are hosting the event beginning Saturday and continuing through Wednesday at the JoAnn Medlock Murphy Tennis Center and Louise Brookshire Community Tennis Center on the TJC campus.
Matches must start at 8 a.m. each day.
Competing teams include: Abraham Baldwin (Georgia), Barton (Kansas), Central Alabama, Coastal Alabama-Bay Minette, College of Lake County (Illinois), Collin (Texas), Cowley (Kansas), East Central (Mississippi), Eastern Arizona, East Florida State, Hillsborough (Florida), Iowa Central, Jones (Mississippi), Lewis and Clark (Illinois), Mercer County (New Jersey), Meridian (Mississippi), Mesa (Arizona), Mississippi Gulf Coast, Moraine Valley (Illinois), Oakton (Illinois), Sauk Valley (Illinois), Seward County (Kansas), St. Petersburg (Florida), State College of Florida, TJC, USC Sumter (South Carolina), Wallace State (Alabama ) and Weatherford, Texas.
The TJC Tennis Team includes: Kelly Arends (Sophomore, Cape Town, South Africa), Stephanie Gopar (Freshman, Tehuacán, Mexico), Yeva Kononovych (Sophomore, Nikopol, Ukraine) , Yeva Kramarova (second year student, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), Natalia Micht (first year, Krakow, Poland), Hrudaya Shah (second year, Pune, India), Zoi Spyrou (first year, Athens, Greece) and Sydney Stone (first year, Brisbane, Australia).
Dash Connell is the Apache Ladies coach and his assistant is Micah Avance.
The Apache Ladies are the two-time defending national champions. They won their 21st title and their fourth since 2017 last year in Tucson, Arizona.
Hillsborough, who finished one point behind TJC in 2022, has four singles seeds – Aroma Gamretkaia (vol 1), Ita Habekoci (vol 3), Alicia Gomez (vol 4) and Paula Cabrer (vol 6).
The other No. 1 seeds are Carola Mora of Seward County (vol 2) and Marila Koroleva of Cowley (vol 5).
Hillsborough is also the top seed in two double-vols – Gamretkaia-Esmee Andresen (Vol 1) and Gomez-Yoana Dudova (Vol 2). The Cowley team of Koroleva and Camila Neyra are the top seeds in Vol 3.
The last time the tournament was held in Tyler in 2019, ASA Miami took the crown.
Back-to-back-folder
This is the first of three consecutive years that TJC will host the women’s tournament.
Following this year’s event, the NJCAA awarded Tyler the host site for 2024 (May 4-8) and 2025 (May 3-7).
“On behalf of Tyler Junior College and the Tyler community, we are thrilled to be named the host of the NJCAA DI Women’s Tennis Championships in 2024 and 2025,” said Tyler Junior College Athletic Director Kevin Vest. “Through our partnerships with the NJCAA and SPORTyler, we are excited to continue to provide a first-class championship experience for NJCAA student-athletes, coaches and fans.”
Tyler Junior College has hosted multiple NJCAA championships, including DI Women’s Tennis in 1991, 1992, 2014, 2016, 2019, and 2023, as well as DI Men’s Soccer, DI Women’s Soccer, DI Women’s Basketball, and DIII Baseball at many times.
“We are thrilled to have the DI Women’s Tennis Championship back in Tyler,” said NJCAA Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Development Brian Luckett. “Tyler has been a hub for the NJCAA Championships over the years, providing quality tournaments and a great atmosphere.”
