Lander University

General 11/3/2026 4:50:00 PM Hailey Franklin - Assistant Sports Information Director

Lander Men's and Women's Tennis Set for ITA Division II Individual National Championships

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Lander men's and women's tennis teams will be represented at the 2026 ITA Division II Individual National Championships, scheduled for Nov. 4-8 at the Tuscaloosa Tennis Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

The Bearcats will have three entries competing on the national stage, with Harry Pugh representing the men's team in singles and doubles alongside Brendan Jayaprakash, while Astrid Sandwall Tornqvist and Esther Mansson will represent the women's team in doubles.

On the men's side, Pugh and Jayaprakash earned their spot at nationals after capturing the ITA Division II Southeast Regional doubles championship on Oct. 19. The duo defeated Radu Florea and Jakub Hrasek of Lincoln Memorial 6-2, 6-3 in the championship match, finishing undefeated through five matches to secure the regional title after finishing as runners-up the previous year.

Pugh also qualified for the national singles championship after reaching the Southeast Regional final for the second consecutive year. He finished as the regional runner-up following a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Simon Malis of Flagler, earning an automatic berth as both regional singles champions and finalists qualify for the national championships.

Pugh enters the national singles draw as the No. 2 seed and will face Khanh Nguyen of West Virginia Wesleyan in Wednesday's opening round at 1 p.m.

In men's doubles, Pugh and Jayaprakash earned the No. 2 seed and will open against Nehal Naidoo and Joao D'Amorim of UT Permian Basin at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.

On the women's side, Sandwall Tornqvist and Mansson received an at-large selection to compete in the national doubles championship following their semifinal appearance at the ITA Division II Southeast Regional Championships.

The seventh-seeded duo at regionals won three straight matches before falling to sixth-seeded Claudia De Lucas Rivera and Isabell Ek of Columbus State, 8-2, in the semifinals. Their regional run included an 8-6 upset of second-seeded Teresa Poppe and Olesya Stokusova of North Georgia in the quarterfinals.

Sandwall Tornqvist and Mansson will open national doubles competition Wednesday at 3 p.m. against sixth-seeded Evi Roobol and Kaia Sperry of Hawaii Pacific.

The five-day national tournament brings together top Division II singles players and doubles teams from across the country, with championship matches scheduled to conclude competition Sunday, Nov. 8.

Tournament Information

Tournament Website: Here
Draws and Results: Here
Live Stream: Here

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Players Mentioned

Esther Mansson: Freshman

Astrid Sandwall Tornqvist: Freshman

Brendan Jayaprakash: Junior

Harry Pugh: Junior

Players Mentioned

Esther Mansson
: Freshman

Astrid Sandwall Tornqvist
: Freshman

Brendan Jayaprakash
: Junior

Harry Pugh
: Junior