RELATED LINKS: ITA South Regional Championship Central | ITA South Regional Draws

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The University of West Alabama men's and women's tennis teams will participate in the upcoming Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) South Regional Championships, hosted by Florida Southern College from Sept. 22-25 in Lakeland, Florida.

The event will occur at the Wynee Warden Tennis Center and the Beerman Tennis Center. The winner of the main singles and doubles draws will participate in the ITA Cup for a chance to win an individual national championship from Oct. 12-16 in Rome, Georgia.  

Click on the links above for a view of the draws for this weekend's event. 

"The south region is by far the strongest region in the country, and only the top players on each team are able to play, said head coach Jeff Beaman. This will be a stacked draw with the winner automatically qualifying for the ITA Cup, the singles and doubles national championship for Division II tennis.  I am looking forward to seeing what our players can accomplish."

Below are the West Alabama players participating in the event: 
Lucas Hammond – singles and doubles
Wilson Igbinovia – singles and doubles
Federico Iturbe - singles
Lolita Hukasian - singles
Hardija Vidnere – singles and doubles
Heden Ly – singles and doubles
Emiri Takanishi – singles doubles
Greta Zawels – doubles 

In total, 19 schools will take part in the individual championship. Below is the list:

GULF SOUTH CONFERENCE
Auburn Montgomery, Christian Brothers (women), Delta State, Mississippi College, Montevallo, Valdosta State, West Alabama, West Florida\

SUNSHINE STATES CONFERENCE
Barry, Eckerd, Embry-Riddle, Florida Southern, Lynn, Nova Southeastern (women), Palm Beach Atlantic, Rollins, St. Leo, Tampa (women)

SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Spring Hill

WEEK 1 RECAP
Last week, the UWA tennis teams had split-squad action between Thomasville, Georgia and Clinton, Mississippi. In Thomasville, the women's team won the championship with round-robin victories over West Florida, Mississippi College and Valdosta State to advance to the final. 

Playing the Blazers again for the title, the Tigers swept them 3-0 to win the event. 

Hardija Vidnere, Heden Ly, Greta Zewels and Emiri Takansihi participated in the tournament. 

The men's team went 1-2 in round-robin play, picking up a 2-1 win over West Florida. Along with Valdosta State, UWA also battled Florida State in the event, falling to the Seminoles 2-1. 

Federico Iturbe, Wilson Igbinovia, Lucas Hammond and Vilislav Bonev played for the Tigers. 

"The men and women faced great competition to kick off the year with two top-10 Division II programs and Florida State, finishing last year 20th in Division I.  All the women's teams were also ranked D-II programs and for our women to win this tournament for the first time ever is a great achievement," said Beaman.  

Additionally, Rowan Devera, Alejandro Flores, Miguel Gamborino and Jared Pierce went over to Clinton, Mississippi for the MC Tournament.