Colling tops field at ITA Regionals
NORWALK -- Women's tennis standout Clarisa Colling captured the first major prize this offseason by winning the ITA Fall Regional Championships, hosted by Cerritos College, on Tuesday.
Colling -- a sophomore on the Orange Coast College women's team who advanced to the singles final of last year's California Community College Athletic Association State Women's Tennis Championships -- lost only one set throughout the five-round event.
"The fall ITA Regional tournament is a prestigious title to win as it's the biggest and most competitive tournament we play in our off-season," OCC head coach Chris Ketcham said.
In the opening set, Colling defeated Cerritos' Diviana Bravo, 6-1, 6-3, before sweeping past Arizona Mesa's Rushan Bobia, 6-0, 6-3 to advance to the Sweet 16.
There, she made quick work of Glendale's Hailey McNall (6-1, 6-1), then, advanced to the title round with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Arizona Mesa's Huynh Khanh (6-4, 6-3).
In the championship finals, the 2016 OCC Female Athlete of the Year took on AZM's Hannah Nelson and after dropping the first set, 3-6, rallied for a 6-3 win in the second set to force a super tiebreaker, which she won, 10-5.
"She played very well on the last day dominating the No. 1 seed in the semifinals and showing great fight and perseverance in coming back from being down 3-6 0-3 in the finals," Ketcham said.
With the win, Colling qualifies for the ITA National Tournament, which begins on Thursday, in Sunrise, AZ. "In addition, in winning the tournament, she will now be representing OCC and our tennis program at a national tournament so everyone is benefitting."
