Blair Captures Singles Match on Day One of ITA Regional

URBANA, Ill. – Senior Libby Blair captured a singles match as the Bowling Green State University women's tennis team began play in the 2026 ITA Midwest Regional on Thursday (Oct. 8). The event, hosted by the University of Illinois, is being held at the Atkins Tennis Center.

Six members of the Falcons are participating in the regional, including Blair and fellow senior Qianyu Liu, juniors Konstantina Adamopoulou and Lucia Gaio, sophomore Kiera Taylor and freshman McKenzie Shelton.

After losing her opening match to Northwestern's Philippa Farber on Thursday, Blair made quick work of Illinois State's Nicole Iosio in the consolation bracket, winning by scores of 6-1 and 6-3.

Gaio and Liu, like Blair, each played matches in the qualifying draw of the singles bracket on Thursday. Shelton has been placed in the main singles draw, and her Round of 64 match will be against Northwestern's Erica Jessel on Friday at approximately 3:30 pm ET.

Doubles action begins Friday (Oct. 9), with three Falcon teams scheduled to be in action. Blair and Taylor will meet the DePaul duo of Sasha Sakura Stula and Clara Nilsson, while the Gaio/Shelton tandem will face WMU's Frida Weijerman and Julie Hostakova. And, Adamopoulou and Liu will take on the UIC team of Marta Halbersztadt and Nia Cooper.

Friday's schedule will include two rounds of doubles, and the main draw singles will begin in the afternoon.

The regional marks the Falcons' third competition of the young season, as BGSU has participated in the Eastern Michigan Hidden Dual (Sept. 25-26) and the Rocket Invitational (Oct. 2-3) so far this fall.

BGSU's results and schedule for the regional can be found below...

2026 ITA MIDWEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Hosted by University of Illinois – Urbana, Ill.

SINGLES – QUALIFYING DRAW
Lucia Gaio
Vs. Aely Arai (Northwestern) – Lost 6-4, 6-2
Vs. Valeriia Oleksyn (SIUE) – Lost 6-4, 6-2

Libby Blair
Vs. Philippa Farber (Northwestern) – Lost 7-5, 6-3
Vs. Nicole Iosio (Illinois State) – Won 6-1, 6-3
Up Next: vs. either Natalia Varela Herrera (Northern Illinois) or Nora Syrtveit (Michigan State)

Qianyu Liu
Vs. Ayana Yaguchi (Western Michigan) – Lost 6-3, 6-3
Up Next: vs. Esther Vrylan (Notre Dame)

SINGLES – MAIN DRAW
McKenzie Shelton
Up Next: vs. Erica Jessel (Northwestern), Friday, 3:30 pm ET

DOUBLES – MAIN DRAW
Blair/Kiera Taylor
Up Next: vs. Sasha Sakura Stula/Clara Nilsson (DePaul), 10:00 am ET

Gaio/Shelton
Up Next: vs. Frida Weijerman/Julie Hostakova (WMU), Friday, 11:00 am ET

Liu/Konstantina Adamopoulou
Up Next: vs. Marta Halbersztadt/Nia Cooper (UIC), Friday, 12:00 pm ET

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Konstantina Adamopoulou

Libby Blair

Lucia Gaio

Qianyu Liu

McKenzie Shelton

Kiera Taylor

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Bowling Green State University Athletics