Three International students from St. Petersburg College were the highlights of last week’s NJCAA National Women’s Tennis Tournament (May 7-11, 2022). Congratulations to Valeriia Cherfus from Ukraine, Naomi Mckenzie from Australia and Georgia L Browne from Ireland!
They spent this past week out in the desert with the mindset of “Together We Win”. The Titans did exactly that by competing as one and walked away with some championship recognition from the Reffkin Tennis Center.
St. Petersburg College won the doubles national championship as International Sophomore’s Naomi McKenzie and Valeriia Cherfus defeated top seeded Tyler Junior College’s Lauren Anzalotta and Destinee Martins Wednesday afternoon by a score of (6-7/6-3/6-4).
The pair started their journey for a national championship by competing in the round of 16 against Barton Community College’s Angelina Gnezdilova & Clara Penido winning easily (6-4/6-2). From there McKenzie and Cherfus moved on the quarter finals where they took down the team of Justine Lespes and Camille Belberka of Seward Community College. In the semifinals the Titans face a familiar opposition from the Suncoast Conference in Hillsborough Community College. The dynamic duo dominated HCC’s Mbali Langa and Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya winning (6-4/6-1) to claim a spot in the finals. The Titans had a tall task ahead in the finals as they prepared to face top seeded Apaches of Tyler Junior College. In the first set Tyler JC had the upper hand winning the first set but, momentum quickly swung to the Titans as the pair of McKenzie/Cherfus roared back to knock off the eventual national champion in the second and third sets.
Alongside the doubles crown another Titan captured a key win in SPC’s Georgia Lily Lynn Browne from Australia .She won #4 singles bracket by defeating Tyler Junior College’s Abigail Wild 5-7/6-2/7-6. Georgia earned this achievement by playing her way through the round 16 defeating Mesa Community College’s Alethea LaCroix to advance to the quarterfinals. In the Quarterfinals, Browne took down Lucia Popluharova of Seward County College defeating Popluharvoa (6-2/7-5) to advance to the semifinal round. Browne made her presence felt in the semifinals against Mbali Langa of Hillsborough CC winning (6-3/6-2) to claim a spot in the finals where she defeated Wild to capture the #4 singles crown.
Overall St. Petersburg College finished 4th only by 1 point behind Seward County College. It was a great post-season for the Titans of St. Petersburg College as they showed why they are one of the best programs in the country at the junior college level. The International Student Center is proud of their achievements and excited to see the Titans there again next season.