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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Amaia Balaguer Brau of the Slippery Rock University women's tennis team will compete against the best collegiate tennis athletes in NCAA Division II this week at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup.
 
WHAT IS THE ITA CUP?
Formerly known as the Small College Nationals, the ITA Cup has history dating back to 1986, and it is the only singles and doubles national championship event for the Division II and NAIA levels. The ITA Cup features the champions from 60 regional ITA Championships and select at-large qualifiers from Division II, Division III, NAIA and NJCAA. This year, more than 8,000 players took part in a total of 60 regional tournaments to gain entry into the ITA Cup field.
 
LOCATION
The 2024 ITA Cup will be held at the Rome Tennis Center on the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
 
FORMAT
Scoring
Best of three sets with a full third set tiebreak.
 
Schedule
Round of 16: Thursday - 9 a.m.
Quarterfinals: Friday – 9 a.m.
Semifinals: Saturday – 9 a.m.
Championship: Sunday – 8 a.m.
*Consolation matches will happen Friday and Saturday
 
Matches
All athletes are guaranteed three matches with those reaching the finals playing a fourth match on Sunday.
 
The consolation draws are compass draws meaning the losers from day one all drop to a consolation draw and then losers from the consolation draw will drop to a separate consolation draw after day two ensuring that players don't play the same people twice and that all 0-2 athletes are also playing athletes that have gone 0-2.
 
HOW BALAGUER BRAU QUALIFIED
Balaguer Brau earned the right to compete in the ITA Cup after winning the ITA Atlantic Region Championship over a four-day tournament Sept. 13-16 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.
 
The top-seeded athlete in the tournament, Balaguer Brau battled her way through a stacked field with six consecutive victories culminating with a title win over Charleston's Sofia Krasikova.
 
Balaguer Brau at the ITA Atlantic Region Championships
Round 1: vs. Alexandra Cave (West Chester) - 6-2, 6-3
Round 2: vs. Lauren Ceballos (Frostburg State) - 6-1, 6-1
Round of 16: vs. Riva Hondiashvilli (Charleston) - 6-2, 6-2
Quarterfinals: vs. Dari Sakhanova (Slippery Rock) - 6-3, 6-1
Semifinals: vs. Dani Ramos (IUP) - 7-5, 6-2
Championship: vs. Sofia Krasikova (Charleston) - 6-4, 7-5
 
THE DRAW
Balaguer Brau's road to a Division II championship opens 9 a.m. Thursday against Amelija Supulniece – the second seed of the Division II bracket out of Academy of Art University.
 
A victory against Supulniece would send Balaguer Brau into the quarterfinals 9 a.m. Friday against the winner of the Anamarija Kovacevic (Findlay) - Ashleigh Simes (Lee) first-round match.
 
A LOOK AT BALAGUER BRAU
A standout since entering the collegiate ranks, Balaguer Brau began her career at St. Thomas Aquinas College, leading the Spartans to the Round of 16 of the 2022-23 NCAA Division II Tournament by going 19-4 in singles competition.
 
Individually, Balaguer Brau's time at STAC was highlighted by advancing to the finals of the 2022 ITA East Region Singles Championship draw.
 
Following her breakout out rookie campaign, Balaguer Brau transferred to The Rock prior to the 2023-24 season and promptly earned Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Athlete of the Year recognition as well as All-PSAC West honors in both singles and doubles competition after producing a 19-9 overall singles mark to go with a 15-10 doubles showing.
 
As a junior so far this season, the native of Benicarlo, Spain has posted a nearly spotless 8-1 singles record to bring a three-year collegiate mark of 46-14 (.767) into Thursday's match against Supulniece.
 
THE COMPETITION
(Potential Opponents)
 
Amelija Supulniece (Academy of Art)
• A sophomore from Riga, Latvia.
• Won the ITA West Region Championship.
• Earned All-America honors as a freshman in 2024 after leading the Urban Knights to a PacWest title and a berth into the Division II Elite Eight.
• 20-5 (.800) career collegiate singles record.
• Was ranked No. 487 by the International Tennis Federation prior to freshman year at Academy of Art.
• No. 14 in the ITA's final singles rankings of 2024.
 
Anamarija Kovacevic (Findlay)
• A junior out of Belgrade, Serbia
• An at-large selection into the ITA Cup after taking runner-up honors at the ITA Midwest Regional tournament.
• Named the 2022-23 G-MAC Freshman of the Year. A two-time All-G-MAC honoree.
• Carries a 44-12 (.786) career singles record into the ITA Cup.
• No. 35 in the ITA's final singles rankings of 2024.
 
Ashleigh Simes (Lee)
• A senior from Canberra, Australia.
• Has put together a 38-13 (.745) singles record during collegiate career while earning All-Gulf South Conference recognition three years in a row.
• An at-large selection into the ITA Cup after advancing to the semifinals at the ITA South Regional tournament.
• No. 52 in the ITA's final singles rankings of 2024.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Video for selected matches this week will be available HERE with live results being updated HERE.




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