Newberry, S.C. - The Duo of Nastassia Chamoun and Lucy Spice came away in a tie for 11th place at the ITA Cup Division II Women's Doubles National Tournament in Rome, Ga. over the weekend after facing some of the toughest competition that NCAA Division II has to offer. This was the first appearance for any Newberry tennis player for either men or women under head coach Mark Gardiner. The duo received an at-large selection for the tournament after finishing as the runners-up at the ITA Southeast Regional in Sumter, S.C. on Sept. 27. The 16-team field was made up of the eight regional champions and eight at-large selections, four of which were to be selected from the pool of eight regional runners-up with the remainder based on individual rankings. 

The pair began their tournament with a tough match against Haina Franco and Katia de la Garza of West Alabama. Franco and Garza would start out strong, claiming the first set 6-3, but Chamoun and Spice would respond by taking the second set 6-4, forcing a 10-point super-tiebreaker which replaced a full third set in the tournament. The match would come down to the wire, but in the end, Chamoun and Spice would fall by two points with a final score of 6-3 4-6 [10-8]. 

Despite the loss, the Wolves' time at the tournament was not over as all participants were guaranteed at least three matches regardless of the outcome. In the West Consolation Bracket, Chamoun and Spice would face off against Katy Graydon and Karolin Kirchtag of Indiana University Pennsylvania. The pair would go on to win the match in straight sets, 6-4 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the consolation bracket. With the win, the duo earned the first victory at the ITA Cup in Newberry College program history.  

Their next opponents would arguably be their toughest of the tournament. They would be matched up against Alexandra Borg and Georgina Groth of Rollins College, who were slated as the No. 3 seed in the 16-team field prior to being upset in the first round in a third-set super-tiebreaker. Chamoun and Spice would fight hard, but they would eventually fall in straight sets 6-2 6-4. 

Overall, the pair would conclude their ITA Cup Division II Women's Doubles National Tournament appearance in a tie for 11th place with Sam Stephenson and Morgan Waller of Ferris State after a potential 11th place match was ruled a no contest.  

Newberry College tennis will now turn their attention to the first team match of the season when they travel to Emmanuel College on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m.