At Riviera/ITAs, Harvard doubles team advances to main draw.

Harvard women’s tennis co-captains Elsa O’Riain and Melissa Anderson advanced to the quarterfinals in the doubles draw of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships on Thursday at the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Harvard’s leading duo defeated Boglarka Berecz and Lolita Frangulyan of Florida 9-7, advancing to an elite eight showdown on Friday with the number one-seeded pair in the tournament, Georgia’s Shadisha Robinson and Caroline Basu. O’Riain and Anderson will attempt to become the first Harvard team to capture the doubles title in the 23 year history of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, which showcases the best collegiate players in the country.

O’Riain and Anderson won three matches to escape the doubles qualifying bracket. The pair defeated teams from Michigan and Pepperdine and then knocked off Florida’s Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak to make it to the main draw. Last year, Benik and Frangulyan teamed up to capture the tournament’s doubles title.

Junior Preethi Mukundan, seeded no. 10 in the singles qualifying draw, lost on Thursday after reaching the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket. O’Riain and Anderson also competed in the singles draw, with O’Riain falling in the first round and Anderson in the second.

—Caleb W. Peiffer