2024 ITA West Regional Results | Box Score

AZUSA, Calif. – Academy of Art women's tennis saw a plethora of success come out of three days of action at the 2024 Intercollegiate Tennis Association West Regional, which was highlighted by sophomore Amelija Supulniece coming out with the second singles title in ART U program history. 

At the Munson & Bavougian Tennis Complex with Azusa Pacific serving as tournament host, ART U began on Thursday with five entrants in the 64-competitor singles draw and two pairs in the 32-team doubles draw.

"This was such a great tournament for us and I'm so proud of our team," said ART U Head Coach Nicole Briceño. "Everybody played really hard and each day became better, and the progress we made from last year to now is incredible." 

Meeting in the final match of the singles tournament were sophomore Sofia Pavlova and Supulniece, with the latter taking the match with a 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 score. Pavlova faced Supulniece in the final after five singles victories of her own over the three-day tournament, with two of those being against members of the Urban Knights as well. Forced to battle with junior Jessica Plazas and sophomore Estelle Najean was Pavlova after the quartet all made the final eight out of 64 total competitors, and Pavlova would come out of the upper half of the bracket to match up with Supulniece in the final.

"Amelija looked so fresh throughout the entire tournament and it was impressive how she never seemed to look tired," Briceño said. "It wasn't easy but she did great while fighting really hard, and it was great to see Sofia give it her all and make Amelija earn it. I loved the competitiveness between them both and it really was anybody's game as Sofia really believed in herself and never quit, and that's going to help our team become better."

The singles tournament saw pure dominance from ART U, with three of the final four being a Knight. The squad saw 19 victories in the singles tournament alone, with freshman Evi Roobol, Plazas, Najean, Pavlova, and Supulniece all earning wins.

The Knights not only recorded victories throughout the singles tournament, but the doubles tournament as well. ART U saw six more total wins come from the Plazas/Pavlova and Supulniece/Roobol pairings, with both teams making it to the semifinal matches. Of 32 total duos in the doubles bracket, the Knights once again saw themselves multiple times within the final four.

The West Region Individual Champion honor for Supulniece becomes the first since Monika Stanikova did so back in 2018 and is the fifth ITA award received in the tournament after the Knights took three consecutive doubles titles between 2016-2018.

"I'm so proud of all of them as they gave their heart and worked very hard," Briceño said. "I'm really excited to see how we come out of the fall and transfer into the spring."

The next bit of action for ART U will showcase Supulniece representing the West Region in singles at the ITA Cup starting on Oct. 10 at the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Ga.