CARY, N.C. – The Portland women's tennis doubles tandem of Iva Zelic and Sally Pethybridge won both of their Saturday matches in the Pre-Qualifying Doubles Draw in the prestigious ITA All-American Championships hosted at Cary Tennis Park. The duo move on to face draw's No. 2 seed from Wake Forest on Sunday with a victory advancing them to Monday's Qualifying Doubles Draw.

The Pilot pair opened the tournament with a comfortable 8-3 win against Vanderbilt's Dasha Kourkina and Marcella Cruz. In the late match the Pilots jumped out to a 7-3 lead against VCU's Gabriela Ana Maria Davidescu and Anastasia Smirnova. VCU was able to fight off four match points and pull within 7-6 before Portland closed out the match on serve.

Nevena Carton and Maryam Ahmad of Wake Forest are the final hurdle for the Pilots in advancement to the tournament's Qualifying Draw. That match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (PT) on Sunday.

Pethybridge was a late addition to Saturday's Pre-Qualifying Singles Draw and dropped a 6-2, 7-5 decision to Yinglak Jittakoat, the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year from Fresno State. Pethybridge will play a consolation singles match against Utah's Kaila Barksdale on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (PT).

Zelic, who is ranked No. 110 nationally in the ITA Preseason Singles Rankings, will also take part in the Qualifying Singles Draw on Monday.

The ITA All-American Championships concludes the Pre-Qualifying Draw on Sunday and the Qualifying Draw (64 singles, 48 doubles) is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. The Main Draw is set for Oct. 5-9 featuring 32 singles players and 32 doubles teams in total including eight singles players and six doubles teams from the Qualifying Draw.

ITA All-American Championships
Cary, N.C. (Cary Tennis Park)
Oct. 1-9, 2022

Pre-Qualifying Singles
R1 (13) Yinglak Jittakoat (FRESNO) def. Sally Pethybridge (POR) 6-2, 7-5
C Pethybridge (POR) vs. Kaila Barksdale (UTAH) 12:30 p.m. (PT)

Pre-Qualifying Doubles
R1 Iva Zelic/Sally Pethybridge (POR) def. Dasha Kourkina/Marcella Cruz (VANDY) 8-3
R2 Zelic/Pethybridge (POR) def. (5) Gabriela Ana Maria Davidescu/Anastasia Smirnova (VCU) 8-6
R3 Zelic/Pethybridge (POR) vs. (2) Nevena Carton/Maryam Ahmad (WFU) 2 p.m. (PT)

Qualifying | Mon – Tue, Oct 3-4
Singles Draw of 64
Doubles Draw of 48

Main Draw | Wed – Sun, Oct 5-9
Singles Draw of 32
Doubles Draw of 32