Shkot/Moosbacher Win ITA Regional

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.  – Oklahoma Baptist will be sending its first entrants to the ITA Oracle Cup as NCAA members after Kateryna Shkot and Kim Moosbacher battled to win the ITA Regional Championship over the weekend.
 
Shkot and Moosbacher, seeded third, beat the top seed, Kornelia Staiszewska and Bekley Darr of Augustana, 9-8, in the semifinals and then topped No. 2 Tatiana Stoll and Molly Worden of Northeastern State, 7-6, 4-6, 10-8 in the championship.
 
Moosbacher and Shkot play in Rome, Georgia, in the Oracle Cup Oct. 11-15 against a field that will consist of regional winners from Division II, the NAIA and junior colleges. The championship came down to adjustments and perseverance. The Oracle Cup winners advance to meet Division I competition in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships in California in November.
 
"There were a ton of ups and downs and they weathered the storm," said OBU Coach Nick Papac. "They played together and made adjustments well. We had to change our game and play a little more aggressively."
 
The Lady Bison pair also beat tandems from Minnesota State-Mankato, NSU and Arkansas Tech to reach the semifinals.
 
While the two have had success in doubles at OBU, Shkot and Moosbacher have only been doubles partners for two weeks.
 
"They played together last weekend in a tournament and that was the first time they had played together," Papac said. "They are two really good tennis players and have really come together well."
 
Moosbacher was 24-1 in singles and 25-4 in doubles last year as a freshman. Shkot, who was a two-time ITA All-American at the NAIA level for OBU, sat out last season. In 2016, Shkot was 23-1 in doubles and 23-0 in singles.
 
In other doubles action, Madeline Boepple and Caroline Abbe bowed out in the first round.
 
Moosbacher and Shkot each reached the quarterfinals in the 64-person singles draw, finishing 3-1 with Shkot falling to the No. 2 seed Stoll and Moosbacher to the top seed, Stanisweska, who beat Stoll in the finals.
 
Moosbacher had wins over Mayra Jovic of NSU, Lucia Diaz of Southwest Baptist and Irene Recuenco of Northwest Missouri State. Shkot claimed wins over Arisa Takanashi of Harding, Emma Neil of Nebraska-Kearney and Tania Teruel of Northwest Missouri State.
 
Tahlia Walsh won her first round match over Sherry Sun of Kearney and Alex Bowers made it to the second round after knocking off Bojana Vuksan of Midwestern State.