FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- After opening up competition with a pair of victories on Saturday, Christopher Newport University rookie Johanna Ranta-aho (Helsinki, Finland) continued her impressive run in the championship draw at the 2016 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regional Championships with two more victories on Sunday, earning a berth into the semifinals. The Captains' freshman is 4-0 in her first ever ITA appearance, and will continue play Monday morning in what is believed to be the first ever appearance for a CNU women's tennis player in the semifinals. 

In her first action of the day, Ranta-aho faced Johns Hopkins' senior Mikey Barthelmass and came away with a 6-4, 6-1 win to advance to the quarterfinals. In her second match, she took on Carnegie Mellon sophomore Katie Lai and dropped just two games, 6-1, 6-1.  Throughout her journey through the championship draw, the CNU first-year has suffered just 11 games lost, including the four in one set to Barthelmass. She has won all four matches in straight sets. 

She will advance to play Monday morning at 9:00 am against one of the nation's top players, in Johns Hopkins' senior Ashnaa Rao. Rao, a two-time All-American in singles, was ranked as high as No. 2 nationally last season and is the top seed in the ITA Regional Championship. The winner will advance to face either Brooke Donnelly (Washington & Lee) or Sophia Strickland (Johns Hopkins), who will also play at 9:00 am. The championship match will be played at Noon.

In other action on Sunday, sophomore Lily Schreiber won both of her matches to capture the Blue 2 flight championship. Schreiber defeated Nicole Shifflett (Bridgewater), 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals, and then downed Johns Hopkins' Katie Gauch in the final, 6-2, 6-1. 

Back in the championship draw, Claire Dockrill captured a pair of wins in the consolation bracket, defeating Chrissy Simon (Johns Hopkins), 8-4, and Courtney Gulihar (Virginia Wesleyan), 8-3. Meili Konell added one win in the consolation bracket as well, dropping Catholic's Laura Torsiello, 8-0. Rounding out the CNU singles action was junior Emily Morgan, who suffered a three-set loss to Washington & Lee's Melinda Kauffman in the Blue 1 semifinals (6-3, 4-6, 10-7). 

In doubles play, the Captains won all three consolation matches they played. Ranta-aho and Kate Huck pitched a shutout against Dickinson duo Lydia Fox and Olivia Shea (8-0), while Konell and Morgan paired for two wins in the consy's. First, an 8-5 win over Salisbury's Annika Kezman and Claudia Lohn, followed by a win by the same score over Dickinson's Joana Nunes and Madison Parks.