Florida senior Marlee Zein and junior Carly Briggs made appearances this week at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Women’s All-American Championship in Charleston, South Carolina, with qualifying rounds beginning on Oct 4.
Zein caught fire in the qualifying round and picked up three ranked victories on her way to the main singles draw. She rallied against No. 32 Cameron Morra of North Carolina, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 in the opening round for her first ranked victory of the fall. Zein went on to defeat No. 52 Anna Campana from Wake Forest, 2-0, 6-2, 6-4.
Zein earned her place in the main draw with another victory over a Demon Deacon, this time defeating No. 52 Anna Campana comfortably by a score of 6-2, 6-4, before she took down No. 67 Kylie Collins of Texas in a back-and-forth battle, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.
On Wednesday, despite rain delays, Zein put up a great fight against No. 7 Irina Cantos Siemers of Ohio State to open the main tournament. The two battled it out, but Siemers ultimately overpowered Zein to claim the victory, 7-5, 6-2.
In the following consolation round, Zein, lost a close match to No. 28 Chloe Beck of Duke, 6-7 (3), 6-7 (5), to end her tournament.
Briggs was unable to find the same success as her teammate this week in South Carolina. She lost to No. 48 Abigail Rencheli of North Carolina State 6-2, 6-1 in the first qualifying singles round. Briggs would later fall to No. 34 Bronte Murgett of Missouri 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4), and the junior left the championships without a victory.
Briggs and Zein now look to their next challenge in Lake Nona, Florida, for the ITA Regional Championships, which begins Oct. 14.
Contact Brenda Bogle at bbogle@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @bogle_brenda.
Brenda Bogle is a UF journalism senior with a specialization in sports and media. She joined The Alligator in the Fall of 2021.
