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Thea reaches semis in NCAA debut
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Posted on Sep 26 2016
Thea Minor advanced to the semifinals in her NCAA debut with the Henderson State University last weekend. (Contributed Photo)
Former CNMI top junior player Thea Minor made it to the semifinals of her NCAA Division 2 debut.
Minor, who plays for the Henderson State University, competed in Flight 2 singles event in the 2016 Great American Conference Individual Championships held over the weekend at the Russelleville High School in Arkansas and was tested in two closely fought matches.
She was pitted first against Southern Nazarene’s Noelia Gomez and won the more than two-hour match, 7-6 (8), 6-1, to advance to the semifinals of the main bracket.
“Having that first win felt really good. It was a tough one, but every point was worth fighting for. The tiebreak was long and my opponent had a couple of set points, but I kept fighting,” Minor said in a message sent to Saipan Tribune yesterday.
Up next for the former New Mexico Military Institute standout was Southeastern Oklahoma’s Aleksandra Relijic and Minor forced a super tiebreaker third set before losing. Relijic won the opening set, 6-3, but missed a sweep when Minor came back in the second in similar scores. In the third, the two players went back and forth before Relijic eked out a 11-9 victory to advance to the finals. The Southeastern Oklahoma player went on to win the finale with another hard-earned win against host Arkansas Tech’s Tamara Bell, 2-6, 6-4, 10-7.
“My semis match was another long and tougher game. It was played for nearly two hours and I lost a good fight,” Minor said.
After her eventful debut, the 21-year-old CNMI player said she expects more challenges in her rookie season with the HSU Reddies.
“There will be more and tougher competitions ahead of me and I am ready to face them through the help of my coaches and teammates. It feels different playing on a new team, but we have a very good squad and coaches,” the Saipan Southern High School graduate said.
The Reddies are under head coach Brenda Joiner and will next compete in the ITA Regionals on Oct. 1 and 2. University of Central Oklahoma will host next weekend’s tournament in Edmond, Oklahoma.
