HCC Lady Hawks Tennis Team Named National Runners-Up

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — The Hillsborough Community College Lady Hawks Tennis team finished as the National Junior College Athletic Association national runners-up during the championship tournament held May 7-11 in Tucson, Arizona. This is the third consecutive year that the Lady Hawks have achieved the runner-up title.

“There was so much to celebrate this season,” said Sarah Lytle, HCC athletics director and head tennis coach. “We were Region 8 Champions, National runners-up, and we won four national championship individual titles.”

The team recognitions are as follows:
#1 Singles: Arina Gamretkaia – semi-finalist
#2 Singles: Ita Habekovic – finalist
#2 Singles: Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya – champion
#4 Singles: Mbali Langa – semi-finalist
#5 Singles: Esmee Andresen – champion
#6 Singles: Camilla Mitolo – semi-finalist
#1 Doubles: Mbali Langa and Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya – semi-finalists
#2 Doubles: Olivia Pezo and Arina Gamretkaia – champions
#3 Doubles: Esmee Andresen and Ita Habekovic – champions

Zhadzinskaya and Andresen were selected as First Team Singles All-Americans. Pezo and Gamretkaia were selected as First Team Doubles All-Americans, alongside Andresen and Habekovic. Habekovic was also selected to be a Second Team Singles All-American.

Additionally, Andresen was the only player at the tournament who won in both the singles and doubles flights.

“I am so proud of this team and the way they fought for the championship title. We are looking forward to building on this success next year,” Lytle said.

The Lady Hawks currently practice and compete at the Tejas Pradip Patel HCC Tennis Center, located on the Dale Mabry Campus.