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Southwestern University

Quartet of Pirates Make Latest ITA National Rankings

Quartet of Pirates Make Latest ITA National Rankings
Posted: Dec 10, 2021

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association released its latest national rankings, listing two Southwestern women's singles players and two doubles teams in the top 50. 

Southwestern junior Emma Kesterson was the highest-ranked Pirate in singles at No. 39, followed by freshman Lydia Lee at No. 50. 

"Another milestone for us is having two players ranked in the same ranking period as that is something that hasn't been accomplished here," Southwestern head tennis coach Billy Porters says. "I'm very happy for Emma and Lydia, and I'm confident Nina Mitrofanova will find her way back in there for the next ranking period." 

This fall, Kesterson advanced to the ITA Regional Championships semifinals, posting a 4-1 record with wins over Trinity's Cate Cushing and Elodie Richard, teammate Erika Synoski, and Schreiner's Blair Drought-Villarreal. She posted a 9-2 singles record last season, competing primarily from the No. 3 spot, earning All-SCAC First Team recognition in singles. She has a career 12-3 singles record in the spring season. 

Lee also advanced to the ITA Regional Championships semifinals with wins over Concordia's Kayla Pena, Trinity's Ella Cummings, St. Thomas's Ana Maria Gonzales, and Trinity's Ruth Hill. 

In doubles, Alli Ziehm and Kesterson ranked No. 10, and Mitrofanova and Lee ranked No. 19 after both teams advanced to the ITA Regional Championship match, with Ziehm and Kesterson winning to earn All-American status to advance to the ITA Cup, where they recovered from a first-round loss to close out the event with two wins. 

"Emma and Alli had a winning record at the ITA Cup and were certainly rewarded for it being a Top 10 doubles team in the country. It's our second top 10 team in program history, which is cool," Porter says. "Nina and Lydia getting into the national doubles rankings is special because it's the first time in program history that we've had two doubles teams ranked in the same ranking period." 

In the West Region rankings, Kesterson is No. 9, Lee is No. 11, and Mitrofanova ranks No. 17. Ziehm and Kesteron rank No. 3 in the region, followed by Mitrofanova and Lee at No. 5.

Southwestern will open its season ranked No. 10 nationally as a team after winning the SCAC Championship last year and advancing to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.