Yakoff Concludes ITA All-American Championship Run in the Sweet 16

Senior Stephanie Yakoff advanced further in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-American Championships than any Harvard women’s tennis player in history, playing eight matches in the week-long tournament in singles and doubles. The senior was not only the first Crimson player to qualify automatically for the singles main draw, but also the first to reach the Sweet 16.

Yakoff, ranked 55th nationally in singles, also competed alongside fellow senior Kavya Karra in the doubles main draw. Though neither player punched an automatic ticket to the NCAA Tournament, both played high-quality tennis and recorded notable upsets.

Coming off a seemingly effortless upset on Wednesday over Texas Christian University’s No. 47 Raquel Caballero Chica, Yakoff faced off against Arizona State University’s No. 15 senior Emilija Tverijonaite in the Round of 32. After losing the first set 3-6, Yakoff reset and came back to dominate the next two sets, 6-2, 6-2.

Though the senior battled hard during the first set, she could not fight back after a break of serve. Shifting gears in the second set, Yakoff leveled the playing field against the ninth-seeded Tverijonaite with her unmatched consistency.

In carefully constructed points, Yakoff pushed Tverijonaite multiple feet behind the baseline until she could seize the opportunity to swiftly approach the net and finish the rallies. Whenever the Fort Lee, N.J., native seemed in danger of conceding a point, she frustrated Tverijonaite with high lobs that stalled her momentum and provided Yakoff with a chance to recover.

After the win on Wednesday, Yakoff took on Southern Methodist University’s No. 12 sophomore Amelie Van Impe, who was seeded seventh in the tournament. Van Impe, who had won both her previous matches in straight sets, overpowered Yakoff, defeating her 6-1, 6-0.

For the Harvard senior, though, the tournament was not quite over. On Saturday, she battled through two consolation matches. She won her morning match against UC Berkeley’s No. 51 Mao Mushika swiftly, 6-2, 6-2. Later that day, she fought a gritty marathon match against No. 49 Kristina Paskauskas of Texas A&M, coming back from a 6-1-loss in the first set to win the next two, 7-5, 6-3.

In the consolation semifinals on Sunday, Yakoff played a close three-setter against junior Mia Slama, ranked No. 10, of NC State. After dropping the first set 6-4, Yakoff came back to take the second set 7-5. Unfortunately for the Crimson fans, Yakoff then had to forfeit the match during the third set. This was the final match of an exhausting, hard-fought week for Yakoff, during which she maintained an incredible level of play.

On the doubles side, Yakoff and Karra took on UNC Chapel Hill’s sixth-seeded Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby in the Round of 16 of the main draw. Despite leading the first set 3-1, the Harvard pair ultimately dropped the set 6-4. The second set was close at the start thanks to strong service games from both sides. After a few tough, back-and-forth games to deuce, the Crimson duo ultimately lost the second set 6-2.

The UNC pair, meanwhile, went on to win the doubles draw on Sunday against an Ohio State University team, which included No. 3 Luciana Perry, who went on to win the singles draw.

Harvard will now shift its sights to its first home tournament, which it will host Oct. 2-4, against Boston College, Boston University, and Stony Brook. Although the Crimson hasn’t played Stony Brook since the 2024-2025 season, BC and BU were close competition for Harvard last year.

—Staff writer Avani I. Shah-Lipman can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Natalia Howard Pagán can be reached at [email protected].