WOMEN’S TENNIS

The HU women’s tennis team turned in a great performance at the 2026 ITA NAIA Men’s and Women’s Midwest Regional Championship, producing a singles semifinalist, a doubles runner-up finish, four players in the singles Round of 16, and two doubles teams that advanced to the semifinals or beyond against some of the region’s top competition.

Leading the way was the duo of Yariange Bello and Ashley Bucur, who put together an impressive run to the doubles championship match. Seeded fourth in the tournament, the Huntington tandem opened with victories over teams from Spring Arbor and Taylor before advancing to championship play. On Friday, Bello and Bucur defeated seventh-seeded Liliana Salas Bejarano and Dayra Novella of Spring Arbor, 8-4, before knocking off the tournament’s top-seeded tandem of Yasmin Imamniyazova and Ana Lopez Torres from Marian, 9-7, in the semifinals.

The Forester duo carried that momentum into Saturday’s championship match, pushing Marian’s Ainara Martinez Grande and Jimena Rivera Flores to the limit before falling in a dramatic tiebreak, 8-7 (10-8), to finish as tournament runners-up.

Huntington also enjoyed considerable success in singles competition, led by Bucur’s run to the semifinals. The eighth-seeded Forester opened the tournament with dominant wins over Madelyn Dell of Spring Arbor and Giselli Reschke of Taylor before defeating Indiana Wesleyan’s Nicole Puga, 6-4, 6-0, in the Round of 16.

Bucur then delivered one of the tournament’s biggest upsets by topping third-seeded Ana Lopez Torres of Marian, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals to earn a spot among the final four. Her impressive tournament run came to a close against second-seeded Michelle Irigoyen of Marian in the semifinals.

Bello, seeded 10th, also made a deep singles run. After cruising through her opening two matches without dropping a set, she pushed top-seeded Yasmin Imamniyazova to a deciding super tiebreak before falling 3-6, 6-3, 10-5 in the Round of 16.

Addison Mast continued Huntington’s strong showing by advancing to the Round of 16 as the No. 13 seed. Following a pair of straight-set victories, she battled fourth-seeded Marie Fairier of Marian in one of the tournament’s most competitive matches before narrowly falling, 7-6, 6-7, 10-7.

Tiziana Rizzato rounded out the Foresters’ quartet of Round of 16 qualifiers. Seeded 15th, she earned one of Huntington’s signature victories of the weekend by upsetting Indiana Wesleyan’s Rebecca Dick in a thrilling three-set match after rallying from a first-set tiebreak loss.

The doubles team of Mast and Rizzato added to Huntington’s success. Seeded eighth, the pair advanced to the semifinals with wins over Indiana Wesleyan and fellow Foresters Abigail Beck and Carolina Rogel Castro before scoring an 8-4 quarterfinal victory over the third-seeded tandem of Nicole Puga and Avery Brooks from Indiana Wesleyan.

With Bucur reaching the singles semifinals, Bello and Bucur advancing to the doubles final, Mast and Rizzato making the doubles semifinals, and four Foresters advancing to the singles Round of 16, Huntington showcased both its depth and top-end talent throughout the four-day event.

UP NEXT

After a three-week break from competition, the Foresters return to the court on October 16 when they travel to Ohio to take on Ashland University. First serve is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EDT.