By Jesse Muñoz
COC Sports Information Director
College of the Canyons freshman Emma Chodur placed fifth in the nation at the annual Intercollegiate Tennis Association Cup hosted by Berry College at the Rome Tennis Center in Georgia.
The ITA Cup is the nation’s only singles and doubles championship event for NCAA Division II and III, NAIA and junior college levels. Formerly known as the Small College Nationals, the lead-up to this year’s event included more than 8,000 players across the nation competing in 60 regional tournaments to qualify as an ITA Cup participant.
Among those participants was Chodur, who qualified by winning the ITA’s California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) Southern California Region Women’s Singles Championship played Sept. 26-28, and hosted by Fullerton College.
Chodur, who resides in Castaic, then moved on to the ITA Cup held Oct. 16-19, where she finished with a 2-1 tourney record to place fifth in the nation.
Her run at the ITA Cup began with an opening round loss (1-6, 0-6) vs. Sydney Stark of Hillsborough Community College, in Tampa, Florida.
Down but not out, Chodur bounced back to defeat Jaedyn Martin of Wallace State Community College from Hanceville, Alabama, in a three-set thriller (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) the following day.
That victory placed Chodur in the fifth-place match vs. Madison Standifer, another opponent from Wallace State Community College. Chodur defeated Standifer in straight sets, taking the match 6-3, 7-5 to end her three-day run.
“Emma definitely represented College of the Canyons well,” COC head coach Patty LaBat, who also attended the event, said in a COC news release. “It was a great experience to begin the 2025-26 season, and we’re all excited to see Emma play this spring.”
Canyons will compete in a pair of offseason matches next month, before seeing its regular season schedule start on Jan. 27 vs. Orange Coast College.