SUMTER, S.C. – The University of North Georgia men's and women's tennis teams had a fantastic showing at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) 2024 Southeast Regional Championship at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, S.C. this week. 

Junior transfer Pedro Liborio led the headlines after being crowned the Men's Singles Regional Champion. Senior duo Angelina Linnikova and Carolina Reis were also finalists in the women's doubles category. 

Liborio, a transfer most recently from the University of Nevada, took down a 128-player field to earn the Southeast Regional Championship. He becomes the first Nighthawk men's tennis player in program history to win an ITA regional title. With an automatic bid to the ITA Cup in Rome, Ga. Oct. 9 to Oct. 13, Liborio will join Joaquin Benoit as the only UNG men's tennis players to ever appear in ITA's national tournament.

Liborio won six matches over four days en route to the title. He took down some of the best men's tennis players in the Southeast region including three players from Flagler and one from Columbus State. In the final, Liborio defeated Flagler's Aniss Rafiq 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-5 for the victory.

Liborio spent two seasons with the Wolfpack before joining UNG this year. He amassed an 8-13 singles record along with an 8-8 doubles record in that span. Prior to Nevada, he spent his freshman season in the Mountain West Conference with Boise State University. 

With the Broncos, Liborio went 9-12 in singles and 2-5 in doubles en route to earning  2022 Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors and a spot on the All-Mountain West Singles Team. 

Liborio also has had extensive success in his home country of Portugal. He was a U16 Nationals Finalist while also competing in the Summer Cup at the U16 stage. He also has a pair of International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior titles from 2020. Liborio won the J4 Porto Doubles at the Taca Diogo Napoles Tournament and the J5 Portimão Doubles in the Portimão Junior Open ITF U18. Liborio first heard about UNG through current Nighthawk women's tennis member Reis who is also from Portugal and a hometown friend of Liborio's. 

Reis also had some outstanding success herself this week. She joined Linnikova as the pair teamed up to make a run to the women's doubles finals. The two marked UNG's first appearance in the ITA regional championship since Vaishali Jorge and Johanna Lippert won the title in 2021. 

Linnikova and Reis each had separate success in the singles portion of the tournament as well. Linnikova, who earned an at-large bid to the national ITA Cup a season ago, earned a spot in the singles quarterfinals with three wins this year.

Reis, who had not competed in more than four singles matches for UNG a year ago, also made a run to the Round of 16. She picked up a pair of wins before ultimately falling before the quarterfinals. 

On the men's doubles draw, Liborio paired up with senior Robin Eldin as the two collected three wins and a semi finals appearance. 

With Liborio, Eldin, Reis and Linnikova, UNG had a Nighthawk participate in the quarterfinal round or better in every faction of the ITA regional (men's/women's singles and doubles). 

Now, the team will return home as Liborio prepares for the ITA Cup and the others await an opportunity for an at-large bid. The ITA Cup begins Wednesday Oct. 9 in Rome, Ga. at the Berry Tennis Center.