Representatives from California's women's program swept the singles and doubles competition to conclude play at the PSAC Individual Tennis Championships held this weekend at Bloomsburg.
Top-seeded Anila Stanilla cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 finals victory over the third seed, Rhoini Das of Kutztown. In doubles, the No. 1 seeded pair of Helena VanEysendeyk and Axelle Fernandez won an 8-3 decision in the final match over Slippery Rock's Kayla and Samantha Blackburn. It marked the third straight season that California swept the singles and doubles titles.
Bloomsburg's Fernando Perez captured the men's singles title, downing Kutztown's Andrew Torrealba,7-5, 6-2 in the finals. Perez, the tourney's No. 2 seed, ended an unexpected run from the unseeded Torrealba, who downed top-seeded Tim Hannson of Mercyhurst, 6-4, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Lukas Labitsch of Kutztown repeated his title as double's winner, this time pairing with Arpit Sharma. As the pre-tourney favorites, Labitsch and Sharma won a tight 8-6 victory in the championship tilt over Mercyhurst's Adam Marnik and Mijo Cotic, the No. 2 seed.
The full brackets can be found by visiting
Bloomsburg’s host site.
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PREVIEW
The first two of 11 fall championships sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference will take place October 11-12 as Bloomsburg University will host the 2008 Men’s and Women’s Individual Tennis Championships.
Players from 12 women’s teams and six men’s teams will be vying for individual championships on the singles and doubles levels. Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Mercyhurst, Millersville and West Chester sponsor both men’s and women’s tennis. California, Cheyney, Clarion, IUP, Shippensburg and Slippery Rock have only women’s tennis.
Play is set to begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday with the women’s singles. The men’s singles is slated for a noon start. A full schedule with approximate starting times is listed below.
Saturday, October 11
11 a.m. – Women’s Singles (First Round)
Noon – Men’s Singles (First Round)
1:15 p.m. – Women’s Singles (Round of 16)
2:45 p.m. – Men’s Singles (Quarterfinals)
3 p.m. – Men’s Doubles (First Round)
4 p.m. – Women’s Singles (Quarterfinals)
4 p.m. (or ASAP) Women’s Doubles (First Round)
5 p.m. – Men’s Doubles (Semifinals)
6 p.m. – Women’s Doubles (Quarterfinals)
Sunday, October 12
8:30 a.m. – Women’s Doubles (Semifinals)
8:30 a.m. – Men’s Doubles (Final)
9:45 a.m. – Men’s Singles (Semifinals)
10 a.m. – Women’s Doubles (Final)
11:30 a.m.– Women’s Singles (Semifinals)
Noon – Men’s Singles (Final)
1:45 p.m. – Women’s Singles (Final)
California’s women have won the last two singles and doubles titles. The defending singles champion, Helena VanEysendeyk, will compete this weekend, but only as a doubles partner with Axelle Fernandez. The pair are touted as the top seeded doubles team. California teammate Alina Stanilla is the top seed in singles, with Slippery Rock’s Kayla Blackburn noted as her top competition.
Kutztown swept the singles and doubles pairings last year. The only returner from that crew is Lukas Labitsch, who paired with 2007 singles winner Santiago Baquerizo to win the doubles title. Labitsch will team with Arpit Sharma as the doubles top seed in 2008.
The men’s singles competition is headed by Mercyhurst’s Tim Hannson and Bloomsburg’s Fernando Perez, as the No. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively.
The full brackets and periodic updates can be found by visiting
Bloomsburg’s host site.