Arevalo, Nickle come up short at ITA Regional Championship

Eastern Florida State College sophomore Valeria Arevalo had the match of the day on the first day of the ITA Regional Championship at Titan Tennis Center Friday on the Melbourne campus.

After winning her first-round match 6-0, 6-1, Arevalo took the court against State College of Florida Manatee's Zeba Jamal in the second round and after three hours of tight tennis, Arevalo's singles run ended.

Jamal took the first set, leading from the start to win 6-4. The second set started the same way but down 2-1, Arevalo won two straight and took the 3-2 lead. She would break Jamal to even the match with a 6-4 win. 

The third set went back and forth but Jamal finished strong to win 6-3.

Jamal joins No. 1 seed Hana Kvapilova in the quarterfinals. Kvapilova is joined by Hillsborough Community College teammates Lolita Kozina, Valentina Dancenco and Chelsea Samways. Renata Gonzalez will play her second round match against teammate Fabiola Candal-Ranalli on Saturday for a spot in the quarterfinals.

ASA Miami's Tatiana Simola and Molly Helgasson are also in the quarterfinals.

Eastern Florida State College's Shaeda Nickle won her first-round match 6-0, 6-0 but her rally in the second round fell short. Nickle trailed 5-2 in the first set but after holding and forcing a break, she could not get any closer, falling 6-4. She found herself down 5-0 in the second set but went on a nice run, scoring four straight points but could get no closer.

Day 2 will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the singles quarterfinals. Two rounds of doubles matches will begin with the finals in both singles and doubles scheduled for Sunday at 8:30 a.m.