Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 AVE MARIA, Fla.- Ave Maria University tennis players Lara Teodoro and Julia Candiotto earned a berth to the 2020 ITA Cup, as announced by the ITA on Wednesday morning. Teodoro and Candiotto qualified for the fall national championship event due to their runner-up finish in the ITA Regionals, held last week in Lakeland.

The ITA Cup, which is held at the Rome Tennis Center on the campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia, is the only championship for NAIA players where singles and doubles champions are crowned - the NAIA championships in the spring only crown a team champion. 16 players will compete for a national championship in singles, while 16 pairs will do the same in doubles.

As the runner-up in the Florida Region, Teodoro and Candiotto were granted an at-large berth into the doubles draw of the national event, which will bring together teams from across the country. 

The duo won their first two matches at the ITA Florida Regionals, first defeating Southeastern's Angelique Myrtil and Gabriella Marshall 8-5 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Teodoro and Candiotto faced a pair of top 20 singles players in Keiser's top-seeded team of Sarah Schaerer and Lisa Khamassi. The Gyrene team, who were seeded fourth in the draw, earned an 8-6 victory before falling to another Keiser team in the finals. The victory over Schaerer and Khamassi ultimately secured Teodoro and Candiotto their spot in the ITA Cup.

In doubles action, the team of Aethielle Kelkboom and Katie Fuller also advanced to the semifinals by virtue of  an 8-6 victory over the tournament's third seed, Lia Pena and Annie Carrera of St. Thomas. In singles play, Teodoro led the Gyrenes by advancing to the quarterfinals, while Candiotto, Kelkboom, and Kelly Oliveira all played in the round of 16.

On the men's side, two Gyrenes advanced into the round of 16. Nicholas Hofmeister earned a round of 32 victory over St. Thomas' Adriel Azucey, 7-6, 6-0, while Carlos Thireau won his first match over St. Thomas' Juan Patino Pabon, 7-5, 6-3. Alejandro Viedma also had success during the tournament, winning three consecutive matches in the back draw after falling in the round of 32 to nationally ranked Geronimo Barrios of Keiser.

The ITA Cup is scheduled to begin on October 16 in Rome, Georgia, with champions set to be crowned on October 18. It will mark the final action for the Ave Maria tennis team for 2020, with the spring season set to begin in early 2021.