KINGWOOD, TX (10.03.21) - UT Dallas freshman Suzuka Nishino defeated teammate Samantha Wong in straight sets in the final at the ITA Regionals, hosted by St. Thomas, on Sunday to advance to the ITA Cup later this month. The ITA Cup is set for Oct. 14-17 in Rome, Ga.

Nishino, a native of Coppell, was seeded 14th in the West Regional's single draw and rolled to the title match with Wong, losing just two sets in her six contests. She opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-2, win over LeTourneau's Megan LeBlanc and then advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-3, victory over Chandler Vrba of Southwestern. Nishino ousted fifth-seeded Olivia Kim of Trinity, 3-6, 6-3, 10-3, to move on to the quarterfinals and then earned her spot in the semifinals with a 6-3, 2-6, 10-6, win over top-seeded Nina Mitrofanova of Southwestern. She reached the finals with a straight-set win over sixth-seeded Emma Kesterson of Southwestern, 6-2, 6-4, before downing Wong, 6-4, 6-3.

Second-seeded Wong had an equally impressive run through the singles draw as well, not dropping a set until meeting up with Nishino in the finals. Wong opened the tournament with a 6-3, 6-2, win over Ellie Hughes of Trinity, and then downed LeTourneau's Madison Morris, 6-2, 6-2. Wong upended ninth-seeded Jenna Lee of Trinity, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in the third round and moved on to the semis with a 6-2, 6-1, victory over eighth-seeded Sydney Wahl of Southwestern and set up her date with Nishino with a 6-3, 6-4, win over 12th seed Lydia Lee of Southwestern.

In other singles action, No. 13-seeded Elyssa Ducret made her way to the third round before falling to fourth-seeded Cate Cushing of Trinity, 6-3, 7-5. Ducret opened the draw with a 6-4, 6-2, win over Jenny Reynolds of St. Thomas, and then downed Texas Lutheran's Elena Brancaleon, 7-5, 6-2. Rebecca Jackson opened the draw with a 7-5, 6-3, win over Hardin-Simmons' Lauren Schaeffer before dropping a 5-7, 7-5 (10), 10-2, decision to Trinity's Kim in the second round. Tisha Nakakes-Nguyen downed Concordia Texas' Isabella Wiik, 4-6, 6-3, 11-9, in the opening round before falling to No. 7 seed Ana Maria Gonzalez of St. Thomas, 6-4, 7-6 (6), in the second round. Megan Zeng dropped her opening round match against Trinity's Elodie Richard, 6-3, 6-4.

In doubles play, the No. 2-seeded tandem of Wong and Ducret advanced to the semifinals before their run came to an end. The duo opened the draw with an 8-1 win over Andrea Smith/Hope Turner of McMurry and then upended Southwestern's Taylor Despriet/Erika Synoski, 8-4, in the second round. The Comets moved on to the the semifinals with an 8-4 win over Trinity's Hughes/Sam Miller and faced sixth-seeded Kesterson/Allie Ziehm of Southwestern Sunday afternoon, falling 8-4.

Eighth-seeded duo of Jackson and Zeng picked up a pair of wins before falling in the quarterfinals. The tandem opened the draw with an 8-4 win over Katelyn Ruiz/Victoria Morales and then ousted Southwestern's Lauren Chisholm/Sydney Wahl, 8-4, in the second round. The duo fell to top-seeded Cushing/Megan Flores, 8-1.

The tandem of Nishino and Nakakes-Nguyen dropped their first-round match against No. 4-seeded Mitrofanova/Lee of Southwestern, 8-1.