Photo by: Brittany Evans
Denver Women’s Tennis Picks Up Four Wins to Start ITA Regionals
10/13/2026 7:25:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Cai, Tye win both qualifying matches to move into singles main draw
PROVO, Utah – The University of Denver women's tennis team opened the 2026 ITA Mountain Regional Championships, hosted by BYU, with a combined four wins on Day 1 of play on Tuesday.
Sophomore Yunfei Cai and freshman Frankie Tye each won two singles matches in qualifying to book their spots in the main draw, which begins play on Wednesday. There, they will join fifth-year Paulina Jurkowska, who received an automatic spot in the main draw prior to the start of play.
Cai picked up where she left off a season ago, winning both of her matches on Tuesday in straight sets – claiming three of the four sets with 6-2 scorelines. Of her 24 singles wins in 2025-26, 16 came in two sets. Tuesday's wins were Cai's first of the season in singles.
Tye captured the first singles victories of her young collegiate career, starting with winning a match tiebreak in the first round of qualifying. She backed it up with a straight-sets win later in the afternoon, which secured her spot alongside Cai and Jurkowska in the main draw.
Junior Sofia Mavor was also in action for DU but fell to a No. 9 seed in her opening match as part of the qualifying draw.
Matched were moved indoors due to weather conditions on Tuesday, leaving only singles qualifying matches to be played. The first round of doubles matches will be moved to Wednesday.
The 2026 ITA Mountain Regional Championships continues on Wednesday with the start of main-draw plays in both singles and doubles. Play is set to begin at 8 a.m. MT.
TUESDAY'S RESULTS
Singles
Qualifying Round 1: [8] Yunfei Cai def. Tia Christopulos (Air Force): 6-2 6-4
Qualifying Round 1: [9] Kaho Oyama (UNLV) def. Sofia Mavor: 7-6(7) 6-2
Qualifying Round 1: Frankie Tye def. Naomi Jin (Montana State): 6-3 3-6 [10-8]
Qualifying Round 2: [8] Yunfei Cai def. Hanna Koprowska (Idaho): 6-2 6-2
Qualifying Round 2: Frankie Tye def. Victoria Cajigas (Idaho): 7-5 6-3
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WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Doubles
Round of 64: Cai/Tye vs. Caves/Planinsek (Colorado State)
Round of 64: Jurkowska/Mavor vs. House/Stverakova (Montana State)
Singles
Round of 64: Yunfei Cai vs. TBA
Round of 64: Paulina Jurkowska vs. Carla Grignac (Boise State)
Round of 64: Frankie Tye vs. TBA
Sophomore Yunfei Cai and freshman Frankie Tye each won two singles matches in qualifying to book their spots in the main draw, which begins play on Wednesday. There, they will join fifth-year Paulina Jurkowska, who received an automatic spot in the main draw prior to the start of play.
Cai picked up where she left off a season ago, winning both of her matches on Tuesday in straight sets – claiming three of the four sets with 6-2 scorelines. Of her 24 singles wins in 2025-26, 16 came in two sets. Tuesday's wins were Cai's first of the season in singles.
Tye captured the first singles victories of her young collegiate career, starting with winning a match tiebreak in the first round of qualifying. She backed it up with a straight-sets win later in the afternoon, which secured her spot alongside Cai and Jurkowska in the main draw.
Junior Sofia Mavor was also in action for DU but fell to a No. 9 seed in her opening match as part of the qualifying draw.
Matched were moved indoors due to weather conditions on Tuesday, leaving only singles qualifying matches to be played. The first round of doubles matches will be moved to Wednesday.
The 2026 ITA Mountain Regional Championships continues on Wednesday with the start of main-draw plays in both singles and doubles. Play is set to begin at 8 a.m. MT.
TUESDAY'S RESULTS
Singles
Qualifying Round 1: [8] Yunfei Cai def. Tia Christopulos (Air Force): 6-2 6-4
Qualifying Round 1: [9] Kaho Oyama (UNLV) def. Sofia Mavor: 7-6(7) 6-2
Qualifying Round 1: Frankie Tye def. Naomi Jin (Montana State): 6-3 3-6 [10-8]
Qualifying Round 2: [8] Yunfei Cai def. Hanna Koprowska (Idaho): 6-2 6-2
Qualifying Round 2: Frankie Tye def. Victoria Cajigas (Idaho): 7-5 6-3
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WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE
Doubles
Round of 64: Cai/Tye vs. Caves/Planinsek (Colorado State)
Round of 64: Jurkowska/Mavor vs. House/Stverakova (Montana State)
Singles
Round of 64: Yunfei Cai vs. TBA
Round of 64: Paulina Jurkowska vs. Carla Grignac (Boise State)
Round of 64: Frankie Tye vs. TBA
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Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports
Like Denver Pioneers and Denver Women's Tennis on Facebook
Follow @DU_Pioneers and @DU_WTennis on Twitter
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_WTennis on Instagram
Follow @DenverPioneers and @DU_WTennis on Threads
Players Mentioned
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