TEMPE, Ariz. – The Portland women's tennis doubles team of Iva Zelic and Sally Pethybridge enter the 2023-24 season ranked No. 33 nationally in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Preseason Doubles Rankings, sponsored by Tennis-Point, the ITA announced on Tuesday.

The duo cracked the doubles ranking last spring and finished the year at a high of No. 69 in the final ITA Doubles Rankings. Zelic and Pethybridge were dominant all year with a 24-7 overall record in becoming the first Portland women's tennis doubles team to be nationally ranked.

They then went 12-2 in dual doubles matches, including a 3-1 record against league opponents at the top of the lineup to earn honorable mention All-West Coast Conference doubles honors in a stacked league.

Zelic and Pethybridge recorded notable wins against three teams that finished in the rankings, highlighted by a 6-5, 7-6 win against Kentucky's No. 16 team of Carlota Molina and Elizabeth Stevens. The duo also beat Pacific's No. 61 tandem of Klara Kosan and Karina Chao 6-4 as well as San Francisco's No. 63 pair of Maria Martinez Vaquero and Simran Chhabra by a 6-2 margin.

The pair made a run to the Round of 16 at the ITA Fall National Championships and will look to make a similar run this year which begins at the San Diego Invitational On Sept. 21-24.

Zelic and Pethybridge have also been selected to participate in the Qualifying Draw of the 2023 ITA All-American Championships taking place Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Cary, N.C.

Portland returns all key players from last year's team that finished 10-9 overall, the best season since the 2015 Pilots went 17-6 and reached the WCC finals. The Pilots cracked the ITA National Rankings for just the third time and knocked off a nationally ranked opponent in Northern Arizona. The team has added Maryland graduate transfer Jojo Bach, as well as freshmen Nadine Arbaizar Martinez and Iye Onoja to the roster this season.