UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's tennis team will travel east to Philadelphia for the ITA Northeast Regional from Thursday, Oct. 9 to Tuesday, Oct. 14. Every member of the team will compete on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania with an NCAA Individual Championships bid at stake.
The Nittany Lions were ranked as the best team in the ITA Northeast region at the conclusion of last season. In singles, Olivia Dorner was ranked No. 6, Patricia Grigoras placed No. 8 and Maiko Uchijima finished at No. 15. In doubles, Dorner and Uchijima were ranked No. 2 while Grigoras and Jordina Cegarra came in at No. 8.
At last year’s tournament, Dorner and Uchijima won six straight doubles matches en route to winning the doubles championship, becoming the first Nittany Lions to win an ITA Regional and qualify for the NCAA Individual Championships since 2012. They owned a 12-7 record in the spring.
The senior duo will make their first doubles appearance of the fall at this year’s event as well as competing in the singles side of the tournament. Uchijima is coming off a 2-1 singles weekend at the Marth Thorn Invitational in addition to two doubles victories this fall. Dorner reached the top 16 in singles at last year’s competition and was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection a year ago.
Sophomore Brianna Baldi will pair with fellow second year Maria Daciana Ciubotaru for the first time in Philadelphia. The two are a combined 3-3 in doubles play this fall across different tournaments. At the Nittany Lions’ first fall event, the Debbie Southern Fall Classic in Greenville, South Carolina, Baldi went a perfect 3-0 in singles action to win her flight. Both Baldi and Ciubotaru will play in the singles competition as well.
Cegarra, a junior, and Grigoras, a sophomore, will reunite as a dynamic doubles pair in addition to singles action at the ITA Northeast Regional. The tandem played together last spring, eventually earning court one status, with Grigoras being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. They have both picked up two doubles wins in the fall with Grigoras tacking on two singles victories and Cegarra winning one of her own.
Freshman Ansley Cox broke onto the scene at last weekend’s Martha Thorn Invitational in West Virginia with the first two wins of her collegiate career. She paired with Cegarra to defeat a doubles team from Duquesne on the second day before securing her first singles victory as a member of the Blue & White on day three of the event.
Cox will play in the singles event while being joined by Maelie Monfils on the doubles front. Monfils has one doubles victory to her name this fall in addition to three singles wins. The junior will compete in singles, giving Penn State a total of eight singles competitors.
Juniors Katerina Dimitrova and Kate Zink will make their fall debuts as a doubles pair. For Dimitrova, it will be her first action since the 2023-24 season after missing last season due to injury. She has six career doubles victories while Zink has two of her own.
Head Coach Alexandra McIntyre enters her seventh season leading the program in 2025-26 following her winningest season at the helm a season ago. The team’s 14 wins were the most since the 2012-13 season.
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