After sweeping the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional Championships in September, two members of New York University's Women's Tennis Team are competing in the ITA Cup, which is being held Thursday-Saturday, October 14-16, at the Rome Tennis Center in Rome, GA.

NYU newcomers Dakota Fordham (New York, NY/Laurel Springs) and Carol Plakk (Tallinn, Estonia/Audentese Spordigümnaasium) are representing the Violets down south this weekend after qualifying for the Cup by virtue of Fordham's singles title at the ITA Regionals (she defeated Plakk in the finals) and the duo's doubles title. The victories also secured All-America honors for Fordham in singles and doubles, and for Plakk in doubles.   

Plakk, however joined Fordham as an All-American singles player with her Round of 16 victory over Sabrina Tang of Grinnell College, 6-1, 6-2, on Thursday. Not to be outdone, Fordham also defeated her Round-of-16 singles opponent, Jamilah Karah of Bowdoin College, 6-2, 6-3.

Both advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals, where they played opponents from Pamona-Pitzer. Plakk was down 3-5 in the third set against Angie Zhou, but rallied to post a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 victory.

"I am happy to be in the semifinals. I don't feel like I played my best tennis, but I am happy that I managed to find a way to win," Plakk said. "I'm looking forward to my match tomorrow and expect to play better."

Fordham was not as fortunate, dropping a tough three-setter to Nina Ye 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

"I was very proud of the way Carol and Dakota competed today. Both started the day well with relatively easy wins in the Round of 16," said Head Coach Horace Choy. "I felt that they controlled the play and didn't give their opponents any opportunities. In the quarterfinals, they played two tough opponents. Dakota's opponent took a lot of chances and it was tough to get a rhythm against her. She kept fighting and split sets, but her opponent was rewarded in the third by taking more chances. Carol played for over three-and-a-half hours and never gave up. When she broke serve to get to 4-5, the momentum was on her side. She closed out the next three games and it was a testament to her fighting spirit."

Plakk now advances to Friday's semifinal, while Fordham will play a consolation match in an attempt to finish as high as fifth place.   

On Thursday evening, the duo opened doubles play and defeated Alli Ziehm and Emma Kesterson of Southwestern University 6-1, 6-3.

"After a long day of singles matches, the women were tired but had enough left in the tank to win their doubles match handily," Choy explained. "They got off to a good start and never looked back. Road gets tougher as they play the #2 seeds on Friday, but I know they will bring their best."