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Hattingh Advances, Ponwith Falls in NCAA Singles Championships

Hattingh Advances, Ponwith Falls in NCAA Singles ChampionshipsHattingh Advances, Ponwith Falls in NCAA Singles Championships
Will Edmonds
ORLANDO, Florida - Ilze Hattingh is moving on! The Pretoria, South Africa, native topped Megan Davies of South Carolina 6-3, 7-6 (3) Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Women's Singles Championship at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. She'll now play Virginia's No. 3 Emma Navarro at 10 a.m. ETS (7 a.m. MST). Nathan Ponwith fell (6-1, 5-7, 2-6) in three sets to Florida's No. 6 Sam Riffice.
 
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On to the next one. ??

Emma Navarro up next ?? pic.twitter.com/WsPzeTEyNF

— Arizona State Women's Tennis (@sundevilwtennis) May 23, 2021

 
"It was a nice win for Ilze today as she got off to a great start, had a bit of a lull at the beginning of the second set, and finished strong in the tiebreaker to get the win," head coach Sheila McInerney said. "Really happy and excited for her, as she and associate head coach Matt Langley have put in a lot of work these last two weeks to get her ready for this tournament."
 
Hattingh was dialed in start-to-finish. She opened the match with a 3-0 lead but Davies started to show a fight. Davies' effort didn't phase Hattingh though as she fought to win the opening frame 6-3. Hattingh stumbled at the start of the second, going down 1-4 before rallying to tie things up at 5-5 and then 6-6 to force a tiebreak. Hattingh played to a quick 3-0 lead int he tiebreak, and a final push gave her the 7-3 victory.
 
Navarro earned ACC Freshman of the Year and first team All-ACC honors after a season that saw her earn the No. 1 ITA singles ranking. She finished conference play 12-1 and 16-1 overall on the top court. She's also slated to play in the NCAA doubles championship.
 

AND THAT'LL DO IT!

Ilze takes down No. 59 Davies 6-3, 7-6 (3) to move on to the round of 32!#ForksUp?? https://t.co/okAVRqHakK

— Arizona State Women's Tennis (@sundevilwtennis) May 23, 2021

   
Ponwith's Sun Devil career officially comes to a close with the loss to Riffice. Ponwith opened the match really strong, going up 3-0 on Florida's No. 2. The Scottsdale native kept the pressure on and closed out the first frame ahead 6-1. Ponwith held on to a 3-2 lead in the second, but Riffice fought back to 5-5 before ultimately completing the comeback (7-5). The third frame was all Riffice, the Gator closing things out with a 6-2 victory.
 
"I thought Nate started really really well today," head coach Matt Hill said. "He jumped on Sam right at the beginning and was playing at a really high level. In the second set he did a nice job of settling in and serving a bit better after the set change. We missed some opportunities early in the second to get the scoreboard back on our side and put some pressure on, and then in that third set Sam really just took his game to another level. We were pressing a little bit too much and it just got away from us."