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Justine Leong (left) and Catherine Allen (right) swept the ITA Rookie and Senior of the Year Awards
Justine Leong (left) and Catherine Allen (right) swept the ITA Rookie and Senior of the Year Awards
Posted: Nov 21, 2019

Justine Leong, Catherine Allen Ranked No. 1-2 in the Nation after Fall Season

CLAREMONT, Calif. - After dominating the national field at the ITA Cup in October, first-year Justine Leong and senior Catherine Allen will head into the spring season as the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked players in the nation in Division III, while the duo also holds down the No. 1 ranking in doubles, the ITA announced today.

Also placing in the national rankings for the Athenas are junior Rebecca Berger, who places No. 20 in singles, while senior Nicole Tan is No. 43 and sophomore Sydney Lee is No. 47, giving the Athenas five of the top 50. In doubles, sophomore Crystal Juan and first-year Anna Kern are ranked No. 4 after falling to Allen and Leong in the ITA West Region finals and reaching the semifinals of the ITA Cup.

Leong captured both the ITA Cup singles and doubles championships, and earned the Division III invitation to the ITA Fall Nationals, where she picked up a straight-set win over Janice Shin of Stanford, who clinched the national championship for Stanford last year with a singles win in a 4-0 victory over Georgia in the title match. Leong is 11-1 in singles so far this year, falling only to Jada Hart of UCLA, the No. 3 seed at the ITA Fall Nationals, in the Round of 32.

Allen's only defeat in singles so far this year came to Leong, when she retired with an injury after falling in the first set at the ITA West Regionals. The two were scheduled to meet again in the ITA Cup finals, but Allen withdrew to begin rehabbing her injury for the spring season, sending Leong through to the ITA Fall Nationals. 

The two players combined to win the Division III ITA Cup in doubles as well, taking a 6-0, 6-3 win over Wesleyan in the finals. 

CMS is coming off a year in which it finished second in the NCAA Division III Championships, just missing out on winning the national title for a second straight year with a 5-4 defeat to Wesleyan in the national championship match. 

To view the complete ITA rankings after the fall season, head to the following link:

ITA Rankings