Women's Tennis | 9/17/2019 9:39:00 AM
FLUSHING, N.Y. (Sept. 17, 2019) – Despite conventional wisdom, thirteen turned out to be a lucky number for Maja Makal of the Queens College women's tennis team.
The freshman from Poland was the No. 13 seed in this past weekend's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region Championships and defeated the Nos. 1, 8 and 14 player in the region on her way to claiming the championship title at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Monday (Sept. 16).
In doing so, Makal clinched herself a berth into the ITA National Championship Tournament to be held in Rome, Georgia from Oct. 17-20.
Makal started her run by dispatching of her first two opponents with relative ease: she took down Laura Alvarez of Franklin Pierce by a 6-3, 6-2 score-line in the first round before breezing past Wilmington's Andrea Ribalta in the second round (6-2, 6-1). Things picked up in the third round as Makal faced the No. 1 overall seed and defending regional champion Barbie Quagliardi, who is representing Adelphi after being a part of the New York Tech tennis program last season. The magical run continued for the Knights' freshman as Makal scored a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 triumph to upset the top seed and move to the quarterfinals.
There, Makal faced Stonehill's Alexandra Vo---the eighth seed in the region---and earned her place in the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph. There, she faced the un-seeded Ebba Rosberg of Concordia (NY), who appeared in the final four thanks to several upsets in her bracket. Makal won an easy contest to move on to the finals against No. 14 Magdalena Hubickova of Southern New Hampshire. Hubickova, who had just come off a semi-final win over second-seeded Luisa Auffarth of QC, won the first set against Makal before the rookie battled back to take the second and third sets to win the regional championship.
Maja Makal (center) with ITA Regional Championship trophy, alongside Head Coach Alan Nagel (left) and Assistant Coach Federico Toscano (right).
"Maja had an amazing run in winning the ITA Tournament," noted Head Women's Tennis Coach Alan Nagel. "She showed incredible heart in winning the final from a set down after playing one hour earlier in the semi-finals. She truly showed what an outstanding player she is and is going to be. I cannot wait to see the progress that she will make in the future."
To view the full recap of the ITA East Region Tournament, click here. The Queens College women's tennis team will resume play on Friday (Sept. 20) as the Knights head to Connecticut to face Post University at 2 p.m.
