NEW ORLEANS, La. – Georgia Gwinnett College women’s tennis junior Maria Genovese has advanced to her rightful place atop the singles bracket of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association South Regional after picking a semifinal victory Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.

Genovese, the tournament’s top-seeded singles player, defeated sophomore teammate Tereza Koplova 6-2, 6-1 in that match and will now prepare to play No. 3 Elyse Lavender of Brenau University (Ga.) on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga.

Meanwhile, defending South Regional champion Madeline Bosnjak, the No. 2 seed, lost in three sets to Lavender, dropping a third-set tiebreaker by a 10-4 score.

The Bosnjak-Genovese doubles team lost by identical 6-4 set scores to No. 2 Lailaa Bashir and Angela Charles-Alfred of Xavier University (La.) in Sunday’s championship match. The GGC team made it to the final with an 8-4 victory against a Brenau duo in the semifinals earlier in the day.

Regional singles and doubles winners will join at-large selections in competing at the ITA Oracle Cup from Oct. 17-20 in Rome, Ga.