(Portions of this story courtesy of Southwestern University and Trinity University Sports Information Departments)
TEMPE, Ariz. -- The 2020 ITA Division III Women’s All-Americans were named after a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Trinity’s Zoe and Mary Kaffen along with Southwestern’s Nina Mitrofanova all received recognition. Complete NCAA Div. III ITA Women’s All-American Team
The Kaffen sisters have earned NCAA Division III All-America Doubles honors for the second straight year, while Mitrofanova earned accolades as a singles player.
The senior twin sisters began the 2019-20 campaign by winning the ITA Division III Southwest Region Doubles title last fall for the second year in a row. The second-seeded Kaffens defeated top seeds Kathy Joseph and Samantha Wong of the University of Texas at Dallas at the event held in Abilene, Texas. The Tiger duo became the first Trinity team to win back-to-back Regional Doubles Championships in four years.
The Kaffens advanced to the ITA Cup at Rome, Georgia, for the second straight occasion. Trinity’s representatives defeated another pair of siblings, Grace Riermann and Maggie Riermann of Bethel (MN) University in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, the Kaffens lost a three-setter to the fourth-seeded team of Crystal Juan and Anna Kern of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CA) Colleges. Playing the consolation bracket, the Kaffen sisters lost a three-set battle to Emory (GA) University’s Emma Cartledge and Defne Olcay, and finished tied for seventh place.
During the shortened spring dual-match season, the Kaffen duo posted a 4-2 doubles record, all in the No. 1 position. The Tiger standouts registered a 3-1 record against the Division III opposition and received a No. 14 national ranking from the ITA, as well as a No. 4 rating in the organization’s West Region.
Trinity finished the season by winning four matches and wrapped up with a 6-5 overall record. The Tigers went 6-2 against DIII teams and were ranked 29th by the ITA.
First-year Mitrofanova finished ranked as the No. 16 singles player in the West Region. Mitrofanova earned All-American status this season with her victory in the ITA Fall Regional Championships. She defeated two regionally ranked opponents to become the second Southwestern University Pirates women's tennis player to win a Flight A singles ITA Fall Regional Championship.
In the finale, Mitrofanova faced East Texas Baptist University senior Elisa Kendall, who finished last season ranked 14th in the region and won last year's ITA Southwest Regional Championship; winning 7-5, 7-6 to clinch the championship. She went 3-1 in season play.
Southwestern finished the season with a 7-1 record, splitting its pair of matches against nationally-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Caltech. The Pirates finished the season cracking the top 20 in the ITA national polls for the first time in program history, finishing at No. 20.
