BOCA RATON, Fla.- The Ave Maria University tennis teams competed with the best the Sun Conference has to offer last week, as the Gyrenes played in the ITA Florida Regionals, hosted by Keiser University in Boca Raton. The ITA Regionals serves as a qualifying event for October's ITA Cup, which crowns a singles and doubles national champion for the NAIA. Ave Maria had quarterfinalists in all four flights of the event, including a semifinalist team in women's doubles.

Gustavo Cruz led the way for the men in singles play, picking up three victories to earn his way into the quarterfinals. Cruz was responsible for Ave Maria's most impressive win of the weekend, beating the tournament's third-ranked player, Danil Ozernoy. Gaston Erhardt also won his way into the quarterfinals, winning two matches after a first round bye. Sebastian Grijalva and Guilherme Bento also won two matches each to advance to the round of 16.

Ave Maria's top team in men's doubles consisted of Erhardt and Fernando Orihuela. The duo earned decisive wins in their first two matches, beating a pair from Warner, 8-2, in the first round, and a team from St. Thomas, 8-5, in the round of 16, to advance to the quarterfinals before bowing out. Three other AMU teams earned doubles wins, as the duos of Carlos Thireau and Bento, Cruz and Grijalva, and Bento and Greyson Williams earned first round victories.

Two-time All-American Lara Teodoro led the Gyrenes in women's singles action, advancing as the number five seed to the quarterfinals with wins against players from St. Thomas and Southeastern. Andrea Rodriguez Oria, who was also named an All-American last season, picked up two wins of her own to get to the round of 16. Vitoria Barandas, Aethielle Kelkboom, and Regina Ruiz all earned wins as well during singles play.

A pair of Gyrene doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals by winning two matches, with one getting to the semifinals. The All-American team of Teodoro and Barandas, who were seeded third in the bracket, won two matches after a first-round bye, getting to the final four. The other quarterfinalists were Kelkboom and Abigail Rich, who earned victories of 8-4 and 8-5 over duos from SCAD-Savannah and Coastal Georgia to get to the final eight of the doubles bracket. 

Following their performances in the ITA Regionals, several Ave Maria players will have the opportunity to earn at-large bids to the ITA Cup, which will be announced in early October. The fall season will continue through October, with several scrimmages and tournaments on the schedule before the championship season begins in the spring.