Sept. 30, 2007

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Junior Suzana Cavalcante (Sao Paulo, Brazil) won the women's singles championships and then teamed up with Paola Arevalo (Cali, Colombia) to capture the doubles title at the NCAA Division II Wilson/ITA South Region Championships at the Ralph "Skeeter" Carson Tennis Complex this past weekend. Cavalcante and Arevalo will advance to the Wilson/ITA National Small College Women's Championships, presented by Outback Steakhouse and the United States Tennis Association, in Mobile, Ala. on Oct. 11-14.

After a first round bye, The top seeded Cavalcante won her next two matches in straight sets to set up a finals match against Valdosta State's top player Raphaelle Durante (Rennes, France). Cavalcante defeated Durante 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, to earn the singles regional championship.

In Doubles, Cavalcante and Arevalo advanced to the finals to face Valdosta State's Durante and Karine Redon. In the match featuring the two top seeded teams, Cavalcante and Arevalo advanced to nationals with an 8-5 win.

In other singles action, Arevalo reached the quarterfinals with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Dorothy Sherman of Montevallo. Tatiana Rodriques won her opening round match 6-0, 6-0 over Terrylisa Abdool of Montevallo. Meanwhile, Renata Mattos won four consecutive matches to win the open singles consolatin bracket. In Other doubles action, rodriquez and Lorena Rebolledo won their opening match before falling to Durante and Redon of Valdosta State in an exciting 9-8 match.

(by Gui Amaral Jasmin)