MMI Places 24th at 2021 NJCAA Women’s National Tennis Tournament
Mesa, AZ—MMI, with the only two-woman team in the 29-team field at the 2021 NJCAA Women's National Tennis Tournament, managed to score four points to finish in 24th place.
Led by freshman and Alabama Community College Conference MVP Julia Kelly, the Tigers put two points on the scoreboard with Kelly's first-round win in Flight 1 Singles over Kaskaskia College's Diana Mossman. Kelly rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 win over her opponent from Illinois.
Kelly was not so fortunate in her Round of 16 matchup with St. Petersburg College's Valeriia Cherfus, the No. 4 seed from the Ukraine. Cherfus took control of the match from the first ball to the last and won 6-2, 6-2.
MMI's Madelyn Dibble also played a seeded player, but, unfortunately, it was during her first-round match. She drew State College of Florida's Lou Bonet De Freitas, the No. 6 seed from France, and lost 6-0, 6-1, at Flight 2 Singles.
In the consolation round of play, Dibble beat Sauk Valley Community College's Sonia Chino, 8-0, and Jones College's Mia Hoddinghaus (Germany), 8-3, before falling to Sofia Andrade (Ecuador) from Iowa Central Community College, 5-8.
At No. 1 doubles, Kelly and Dibble lost in the first round against Eastern Arizona College's Aliya Henry (England) and Mariana Ramirez (Colombia), 6-1, 6-4.
After receiving a bye in the first round of consolation play, Kelly and Dibble defeated Copiah-Lincoln Community College's Susana Patino (Colombia) and Madison Shows, 8-4, and lost to Iowa Central Community College's Marketa Beladova (Brazil) and Juliana Vidal (Czech Republic), 5-8.