FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 6, 2021) – Opening up the ITA Women's All-American Championships against the highest-ranked opponent in her collegiate career, sophomore
Gina Dittmann fell 6-3, 6-2 against Iowa's Alexa Noel Wednesday morning in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
Dittmann, ranked No. 85 in the ITA Preseason 125, broke serve against Noel to open the first set and took a 2-0 advantage one game later. Noel, ranked No. 12 in the nation this preseason, took a 4-2 lead in the first set after four consecutive games won before Dittmann broke serve again to come within one game of the lead.
Opening the second set on serve, Dittmann took a 1-0 lead once again as the two traded games through the first three. Battling back while receiving in the fourth game, Dittmann nearly broke serve to take a 3-1 advantage, but Noel held on to even the set at 2-2. From there, the Iowa sophomore won four straight to close out the victory in the opening round of the tournament.
Dittmann now moves to the consolation side of the bracket where she will face Washington's Vanessa Wong who fell in the first round to UCF's Valeriya Zeleva 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Wong, a senior who ranked No. 14 in the ITA's Preseason Top 125, was a All-Pac 12 First Team a year ago and qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship.
The ITA Women's All-American Championships continue on Thursday and run through Sunday, with live results available
here and all tournament information
here.
Updates throughout the fall and spring can also be found on all of the NAU women's tennis team social media accounts,
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook.
