Ferris State's Stephenson And Waller Conclude Action At ITA Cup National Championships

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's tennis doubles tandem of Sam Stephenson and Morgan Waller wrapped up action on Saturday (Oct. 16) at the 2021 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup held in Rome, Ga.

The Bulldog doubles pairing, which fell in Thursday's opening round of play at the national event, came back to beat Indiana (Pa.) standouts Natasha Munday and Joanna Stralka in strong fashion by a 6-1, 6-3 count on Friday before dropping their final match on Saturday to Indianapolis' tandem of Anna Novikova and Bella Dunlap 6-3, 6-0 in the finale.

"After a big win, the girls didn't have their best day on Saturday, but they represented their team and our university very well," said FSU head coach Mark Doren. "They showed a ton of school pride and great sportsmanship the whole weekend. 

"Making this national tournament and winning a match should assure Sam and Morgan of a top 14 national ranking," he added. "There are somewhere around 450 plus doubles pairings in the country in Division II so it was an outstanding showing overall to make it this far."

Indianapolis' duo of Novikova and Dunlap entered the ITA Cup as the number one seed and it marked a rematch of the ITA Midwest Regional Doubles Championship held back in September. Both of the Greyhounds' competitors were ranked on one of the top two doubles teams in the country last year.

Stephenson and Waller were among the at-large selections chosen from the group of regional finalists and nationally-ranked performers across the country after earning runner-up honors at the ITA Regional Championships. This year marked the first time since 2006 in which a Bulldog women's doubles team has qualified for the national event.

Formerly known as the Small College Nationals, the ITA Cup has a history dating back to 1986, and it is the only singles and doubles national championship event for the Division II and NAIA levels. In 2019, more then 8,000 players took part in a total of 60 regional tournaments to gain entry into the ITA Cup field.

Each division represented featured between eight and sixteen singles players and eight to sixteen doubles teams, competing in their respective draws.

Waller and Stephenson earned their at-large invitation to the ITA Cup after an impressive showing at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships held Sept. 18-20 in Indianapolis where they finished with a 4-1 record on the weekend. The duo, en route to reaching the finals of the main draw, upset the nation's #2-ranked tandem of Sofia Sharanova and Maria Solnyshkina from UIndy in the quarterfinals before topping a Southwest Baptist (Mo.) duo of Diana Cabrera and Paula Ballesteros in the semifinals.