SAN DIEGO — San Diego women's tennis' Emily Deming, an unseeded sophomore, knocked off Arizona State's top-seeded Emilija Tverijonaite 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 on Friday afternoon, the signature win in a run to the quarterfinals of the 2026 ITA Division I Women's Southwest Regional Championship. The Torero followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over San Diego State's Azuna Ichioka on Saturday before Pepperdine's Alexia Harmon ended her run 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 in Sunday's quarterfinals.

San Diego and San Diego State co-hosted the regional, with Thursday's qualifying and opening doubles round at USD's Hogan Tennis Center and the main draw across town at San Diego State's Aztec Tennis Complex. All four Toreros in the 64-player singles main draw won their first-round matches Friday morning.

Deming's Friday began with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5) escape against Long Beach State's Thea Jagare, the third-set tiebreak deciding whether she would play again. That afternoon she faced Tverijonaite, won the first set in another tiebreak and ran away with the second. Ichioka, a 9-16 seed, took four games off her Saturday. Harmon, who went on to Monday's semifinals, needed an 8-6 tiebreak to win the first set Sunday and closed the match 7-5.

Charlotte Keitel, a 9-16 seed, joined Deming in the round of 16. The senior gave up two games to Cal State Fullerton's Stina Larsson in a 6-1, 6-1 opener, then outlasted Cal State Northridge's Satsuki Ishikawa 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 before Arizona State's seventh-seeded Lily Taylor, who went on to reach the final, beat her 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday.

Hannah Read, the Toreros' highest seed at 5-8, beat UC Santa Barbara's Emma Tutoveanu 6-2, 6-2 before Arizona's Martyna Ostrzygalo beat the junior 6-3, 7-5 in the round of 32. Maria Shmakova handled UC Irvine's Maily Huynh 6-1, 6-2 in her opener, and the sophomore fell 6-4, 6-4 to UC Santa Barbara's Ekua Youri, a 9-16 seed, in the round of 32.

Freshman Akira Roy opened Thursday's qualifying with a 3-6, 6-2, [10-6] win over UC Irvine's Kara Chen before Grand Canyon's Beatrice Veltri beat her 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in the second round.

In doubles, Deming and Read, seeded 9-16, beat Hawaii's Makeilah Nepomuceno and Johannah Magenta Galindo 8-5 on Thursday before Arizona State's Zlata Bartanusz and Nanami Goto beat them 8-5 in Friday's round of 32. Keitel and freshman Lila Bachour beat Hawaii's Grete Gull and Malgorzata Bajorek 8-4, then fell 8-6 to Cal Poly's Jessica MacCallum and Natalie Lynch, a 9-16 seed. Roy and Shmakova lost 8-4 to UC Santa Barbara's Ekua Youri and Caroline Beard in the round of 64.

RESULTS

Thursday, Oct. 15 — Hogan Tennis Center

• Singles qualifying: Roy (USD) defeated Chen (UCI), 3-6, 6-2, [10-6]
• Singles qualifying: Veltri (GCU) defeated Roy (USD), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2
• Doubles round of 64: Deming/Read (USD) defeated Nepomuceno/Galindo (HAW), 8-5
• Doubles round of 64: Keitel/Bachour (USD) defeated Gull/Bajorek (HAW), 8-4
• Doubles round of 64: Youri/Beard (UCSB) defeated Roy/Shmakova (USD), 8-4

Friday, Oct. 16 — Aztec Tennis Complex

• Doubles round of 32: Bartanusz/Goto (ASU) defeated Deming/Read (USD), 8-5
• Doubles round of 32: MacCallum/Lynch (CP) defeated Keitel/Bachour (USD), 8-6
• Singles round of 64: Deming (USD) defeated Jagare (LBSU), 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
• Singles round of 64: Read (USD) defeated Tutoveanu (UCSB), 6-2, 6-2
• Singles round of 64: Shmakova (USD) defeated Huynh (UCI), 6-1, 6-2
• Singles round of 64: Keitel (USD) defeated Larsson (CSUF), 6-1, 6-1
• Singles round of 32: Deming (USD) defeated Tverijonaite (ASU), 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
• Singles round of 32: Ostrzygalo (ARIZ) defeated Read (USD), 6-3, 7-5
• Singles round of 32: Youri (UCSB) defeated Shmakova (USD), 6-4, 6-4
• Singles round of 32: Keitel (USD) defeated Ishikawa (CSUN), 6-0, 3-6, 6-4

Saturday, Oct. 17 — Aztec Tennis Complex

• Singles round of 16: Deming (USD) defeated Ichioka (SDSU), 6-3, 6-1
• Singles round of 16: Taylor (ASU) defeated Keitel (USD), 6-2, 6-1

Sunday, Oct. 18 — Aztec Tennis Complex

• Singles quarterfinals: Harmon (PEPP) defeated Deming (USD), 7-6 (8-6), 7-5

UP NEXT
The Toreros travel to Tempe, Ariz., for Arizona State's Thunderbird Invitational from Friday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Nov. 1.