Peus Advances to Quarterfinals at ITA Super Regionals

Friday, October 20

West Point, N.Y.

Brown University

ITA Super Regionals Day 1

Peus Advances to Quarterfinals at ITA Super Regionals

10/20/2023 7:20:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Bracket

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Sophomore Phoebe Peus and senior Ali Benedetto continued their strong fall seasons on the first day of the ITA Super Regionals at Army West Point on Friday.

Peus won two matches, including a win over the No. 2 seed in the tournament to advance to the quarterfinals, while Benedetto took down the No. 1 seed.

Peus was pushed to the brink in both of her matches. In the round of 32 match against junior Cooper Jackson from Army, Peus took a tight first set (7⁷-6⁴), dropped the second (2-6), and ran away with the third set (6-1) to advance. It was a similar match against senior second-seeded Viktoriya Kanapatskaya from Syracuse. Peus won the first set (7⁷-6⁴), fell in the second (1-6), and won a close third set (6-4) to move on to the round of eight.

Senior Ali Benedetto won her first match over No. 1 seeded junior Maxi Duncan from Harvard (6-4, 4-6, 6-4), but fell in the round of 16 (6-1, 6-2) to junior Miyuka Kimota from Syracuse.

"It was a historic day for the Bears today as Ali took out the No. 1 seed in the tournament in the first round and Phoebe followed suit defeating the No. 2 seed in her second match of the day," said Head Coach Lucie Schmidhauser. "The Super Regionals hosts the top 32 players from our region, so these results show that our players are not intimidated by rankings or seeding and they can elevate their games in the critical stages of matches against elite players."

"Ali was relentless in her attacking game plan against Duncan from Harvard, repeatedly demonstrating her variety and the ability to finish the points at the net. Her hard-fought three hour-plus victory took a toll on her physically and she could not quite sustain her previous level of play, losing to an excellent player from Syracuse in the round of 16. Phoebe gutted out a tough three-set match in the first round, elevating her game in the third set with much better execution, focus and improved strategy. In Phoebe's second match, she had to dig deep into her physical reserves as her No. 2 seeded opponent from Syracuse was relentlessly running Phoebe side-to-side anytime Phoebe wasn't dictating. Phoebe really stepped up in the third set, playing her best tennis in the critical stages of the match. Her willingness to be uncomfortable in the third set enabled her to find a higher gear to close out the match with fantastic shot making."

Peus takes on junior Gavriella Smith from Penn in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Benedetto and junior Addison Ahlstrom start their doubles tournament as well.

Singles Results
Phoebe Peus (Brown) def. Cooper Jackson (Army) 7⁷-6⁴, 2-6, 6-1
Phoebe Peus (Brown) def. No. 2 Viktoriya Kanapatskaya (Syracuse) 7⁷-6⁴, 1-6, 6-4 (PEUS TO QUARTERFINALS)
Ali Benedetto (Brown) def. No. 1 Maxi Duncan (Harvard) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Miyuka Kimota (Syracuse) def. Ali Benedetto (Brown) 6-1, 6-2

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