Daria Panova lived up to expectations on Monday as one of the best women’s tennis players to come through Oregon.
Panova triumphed over California’s star freshman, Sasha Podkolzina, in three sets — 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 — in the finals of the singles draw at the Omni Hotel ITA Northwest Regional Championships in Palo Alto, Calif. Panova, a third-year Duck, will earn a spot at the ITA National Championships at Michigan on Nov. 6.
“I’ve never been more proud of a player than Daria this week,” head coach Nils Schyllander said. “She played very, very focused and took it to the level she needed to. We’re very excited for her; it was a great tournament.”
Panova prevailed despite having to overcome cramps and soreness until her final match on Sunday.
“She’s battled through a lot of adversity with leg cramps going through numerous three-setters,” Schyllander said. “She just stepped up when she needed to and did her thing.”
The Russian native entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and became the favorite in the quarterfinals when the top two seeds were ousted early. No. 1 seed Erin Burdette of Stanford withdrew from the tournament in her first match because of injury. Second-seeded Chloe Carlotti of Fresno State was defeated in the third round of the tournament.
Panova overcame six opponents in the three-day tournament to become the ITA Northwest Regional Champion.
She defeated her first opponent, Santa Clara’s Erica Barnes, in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Panova then breezed through her next two matches in straight sets to move into the quarterfinals. She went on to beat two seeded opponents — No. 7 Claire Carter of Washington and 12th seeded Margarita Karnakhova of Sacramento State — to advance to the singles finals.
The win adds to her growing list of accomplishments as a Duck. Last year, she was voted the Pacific-10 Women’s Tennis Player of the Year and swept the Pac-10 singles titles at the indoor and outdoor championships.