This year's ITA Division III Women's Southwest Regional Championship took place on the campus of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Despite not winning the doubles or singles championship, Southwestern showed to have arguably the most depth and talent of any team in the tournament.
Below, were the nine women who competed in the singles championship draw for the Pirates.
In impressive fashion, all nine women won their first singles match in the round of 64. The Pirates continued their success in the round of 32 with eight Pirates advancing on to the round of 16. Naturally, the round of 16 would prove to be much tougher on the Pirates squad, but the five Pirates who worked their way to the quarterfinals, Taylor Despriet, Lauren Chisholm, Sydney Wahl, Emma Kesterson, and Lydia Lee handled the pressure and represented their team well.
The quarterfinals were highlighted by Southwestern teammates Emma Kesterson and Lydia Lee battling it out to determine who would move on to the semifinals. In the end, it would be Lydia Lee that prevailed for the Pirates. Lee was also the only one to move on to the semifinal round for Southwestern.
The run would end in the semifinals for Lydia Lee and the Pirates. Regardless, the singles championship draw was more or less dominated by the Pirates with five women making it to the quarterfinals, including being represented in the semifinals.
In the championship doubles draw, the Pirates again made their way through the field. Three teams made it to the quarterfinals, where the Pirates were forced again to take on their teammates, proving how well Southwestern faced the other competition. The team of Alli Ziehm and Emma Kesterson defeated fellow teammates Lauren Chisholm and Taylor Despriet to move on to the semifinals. Kesterson and Ziehm were joined in the semis by Nina Mitrofanova and Lydia Lee. Similar to the singles draw, the Pirate's run was again stopped in the semifinals.
The Pirates close out their fall season on a very high note in the ITA Division III Women's Southwest Regional Championship. The women will return to play on February 10th when they face conference opponent Austin College at 5:00 PM on the campus of Southwestern University.
Photo by Trinity Sports Information