Thursday, October 8
Stanford, CA
Saint Mary's College of California
vs
ITA Northwest Regional Championships
Photo by: James Vaughn (@theboy.semaj)
WTEN | Nelson and Remander Reach Doubles Final at ITA Northwest Regional Championships
10/13/2026 9:05:00 AM | Women's Tennis
STANFORD, Calif. — The Saint Mary's women's tennis team put on an impressive showing at the ITA Northwest Regional Championships, highlighted by Priya Nelson and Stella Remander advancing to the doubles final and Sofia Daryaie advancing to the singles semifinals on Monday.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
In doubles action, Nelson and Remander opened the tournament with an 8-1 victory over Sacramento State's pair of Jessica Schilz and Nel Van Hout back on Thursday. The duo continued their strong showing on Friday, defeating Hana Abdelhamid and Marta Giglio of Portland State 8-2. On Sunday, the duo took another 8-2 win over Santa Clara's Anna Rahman and Ashley Kurizaki to advance to the quarterfinals, where they won their fourth match of the weekend, 8-5 over Gonzaga's Emily Robertson and Ella Neilsen. The duo then went on to the semifinal round where they dropped the first set 5-7, but battled back to take the next set 6-2 and eventually the match victory in the tiebreaker 10-8. The win sent a Saint Mary's doubles team to the ITA regional finals for the first time since 2021. In the championship match, Nelson and Remander battled through three sets against Washington's Nela Jandova and Marina Markina, taking the first set 6-4 before dropping the second set 6-3. The pair battled until the end, but narrowly fell 10-8 in the tiebreaker Monday afternoon. Â
Veteran Sofia Daryaie led the way for the Gaels in the main draw, opening Friday's singles action with a straight-set 7-5 6-1 victory over Oregon's Hadley Appling. The redshirt junior carried that momentum into Saturday, defeating Gonzaga's Angelina Hug in yet another straight-set battle, 6-4, 7-6, (7-1). She continued her impressive run on Sunday with her third straight-set victory of the weekend, defeating Cal's Mille Johanna Moerk 6-1 6-4, to move on to the quarterfinals. There, she took down Washington's Karolina Kozakova 7-5, 6-2 to secure her spot in the singles semifinals. Daryaie's impressive singles run came to an end in the semis, where she fell to Washington's Anna-Marie Weissheim 6-3, 6-2. Daryaie became the first Gael to reach an ITA Regional singles semifinal since program great Mariia Kozyreva did so in 2021.Â
Freshman Stella Remander also put together a strong showing in the singles draw, picking up two qualifying victories on Thursday to earn a spot in the main draw. Remander went on to open main draw action with a three-set victory over Sacramento State's Irene Riva. After dropping the first set 4-6, Remander battled back to take the next two 6-2 6-3, before falling to Washington's Jermine Sherif, 6-1 7-6 (7-5) in the round of 32 on Saturday. Priya Nelson and Kei Kato also picked up opening-round victories in the main draw before falling in their second-round matchups to end their singles play for the weekend.Â
The doubles pairing of Daryaie and Mahi Khore also found success, opening the tournament with an 8-7 7-3 victory over Fresno State's Milena Maiorova and Nina Wiese. The duo followed with another close 8-7 7-1 win over UC Davis' Aileena Hu and Lyla van Loben Sel, before falling to a pair out of Portland on Saturday.Â
Full match results can be found HERE.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will continue fall competition with its first home tournament of the season at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational beginning on October 29. Additional tournament information and scoring links can be found at smcgaels.com.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.Â
#GaelsRise
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
In doubles action, Nelson and Remander opened the tournament with an 8-1 victory over Sacramento State's pair of Jessica Schilz and Nel Van Hout back on Thursday. The duo continued their strong showing on Friday, defeating Hana Abdelhamid and Marta Giglio of Portland State 8-2. On Sunday, the duo took another 8-2 win over Santa Clara's Anna Rahman and Ashley Kurizaki to advance to the quarterfinals, where they won their fourth match of the weekend, 8-5 over Gonzaga's Emily Robertson and Ella Neilsen. The duo then went on to the semifinal round where they dropped the first set 5-7, but battled back to take the next set 6-2 and eventually the match victory in the tiebreaker 10-8. The win sent a Saint Mary's doubles team to the ITA regional finals for the first time since 2021. In the championship match, Nelson and Remander battled through three sets against Washington's Nela Jandova and Marina Markina, taking the first set 6-4 before dropping the second set 6-3. The pair battled until the end, but narrowly fell 10-8 in the tiebreaker Monday afternoon. Â
Veteran Sofia Daryaie led the way for the Gaels in the main draw, opening Friday's singles action with a straight-set 7-5 6-1 victory over Oregon's Hadley Appling. The redshirt junior carried that momentum into Saturday, defeating Gonzaga's Angelina Hug in yet another straight-set battle, 6-4, 7-6, (7-1). She continued her impressive run on Sunday with her third straight-set victory of the weekend, defeating Cal's Mille Johanna Moerk 6-1 6-4, to move on to the quarterfinals. There, she took down Washington's Karolina Kozakova 7-5, 6-2 to secure her spot in the singles semifinals. Daryaie's impressive singles run came to an end in the semis, where she fell to Washington's Anna-Marie Weissheim 6-3, 6-2. Daryaie became the first Gael to reach an ITA Regional singles semifinal since program great Mariia Kozyreva did so in 2021.Â
Freshman Stella Remander also put together a strong showing in the singles draw, picking up two qualifying victories on Thursday to earn a spot in the main draw. Remander went on to open main draw action with a three-set victory over Sacramento State's Irene Riva. After dropping the first set 4-6, Remander battled back to take the next two 6-2 6-3, before falling to Washington's Jermine Sherif, 6-1 7-6 (7-5) in the round of 32 on Saturday. Priya Nelson and Kei Kato also picked up opening-round victories in the main draw before falling in their second-round matchups to end their singles play for the weekend.Â
The doubles pairing of Daryaie and Mahi Khore also found success, opening the tournament with an 8-7 7-3 victory over Fresno State's Milena Maiorova and Nina Wiese. The duo followed with another close 8-7 7-1 win over UC Davis' Aileena Hu and Lyla van Loben Sel, before falling to a pair out of Portland on Saturday.Â
It was a standout weekend for Saint Mary's tennis", said head coach Katharina Winterhalter. "Priya and Stella making the finals and Sofia reaching the semifinals are obviously the highlights, and a historic result for our program. The whole team played some really good tennis, and we took away a lot of confidence from this weekend, along with a clear vision of what we need to keep improving. I'm incredibly proud of how they competed, how they supported each other, and the way they represented Saint Mary's. This is a group that keeps raising the bar, and I can't wait to see what's next.Â
Full match results can be found HERE.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's will continue fall competition with its first home tournament of the season at the Saint Mary's Fall Invitational beginning on October 29. Additional tournament information and scoring links can be found at smcgaels.com.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.Â
#GaelsRise
Â
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
Monday, October 12
Monday, October 12
Saturday, October 10
Saturday, October 10
