Kenyon College Athletics

Szabo is ITA Central Region runner-up

9/28/2026 12:30:00 PM

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Kenyon College first-year Lora Szabo made quite an impression in just her second collegiate event. Over the course of the last four days, Szabo worked her way through a field of 128 players and into the final match of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Singles Championship.

That final match took place Monday morning, with Szabo coming up short, dropping a 6-0, 6-1 match to Caitlin Bui from Washington University in St. Louis. Bui, a junior, went 19-7 one season ago and was ranked as the No. 20 singles player in NCAA Division III. Bui is also a two-time winner of the ITA Central Region Doubles Championship.

By reaching the final match of the single bracket, Szabo qualified for a spot in the ITA Cup, a national tournament held in mid-October at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, Georgia. The ITA Cup was formerly known as the Small College Nationals. A first-round win at the ITA Cup would secure All-America status for Szabo.

On her way to Monday's final, Szabo began her trip through the singles bracket with a first-round bye. She then defeated Ana Clara Pizaia Ornellas from Calvin College 6-3, 6-1 and followed that with a tough 7-5, 7-6 (9-7) victory over No. 9-seeded Shayli Dodia from Case Western Reserve University.

Into the round of 16, Szabo whipped up a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jane Wong from the University of Chicago. That put Szabo into the quarterfinal, where she squared off against No. 5-seeded Leila Epstein, from Washington University. In that match, Szabo was victorious with a third-set tiebreaker, prevailing 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 10-4.

Szabo then took her game to the next level in the semifinals, where she defeated the No. 1 seed Sarena Biria, from Chicago, by a final score of 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). Biria, now a senior, was 28-11 last season and ranked as the ITA's No. 2 singles player in all of Division III.

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