DAHLONEGA – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) has announced the draws for its annual ITA Cup and a pair of University of North Georgia (UNG) players are scheduled to compete in the national tournament. The national collegiate tournament begins Thursday, Oct. 16 in Rome, Ga. at the Berry Tennis Center. Play concludes on Sunday, Oct. 19.
 
On the men's side, Pedro Liborio earned an automatic qualification into the ITA Cup after winning the men's open singles draw in the 2025 ITA Southeast Regional. With a win over Lander's Harry Pugh 6-3, 7-5, Liborio defending his title from last year and becoming the first UNG men's or women's tennis player in history to win back-to-back ITA Regional Championships.

Liborio is the third seed in the 16-player singles draw and will take on Pablo Segura of Lubbock Christian in the opening round on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.
 
Along with Liborio, Vasilissa Kupriyanova earned an at-large bid into the women's singles draw the ITA announced earlier this week. Kupriyanova finished as the 2025 ITA Southeast Regional singles runner up, earning an at-large bid to the national tournament for the first time in her career.

Kupriyanova will face West Alabama's Alexa Milliam in the opening round at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Dating back to 1986, the ITA Cup is one of the most storied tournaments across the Division II, Division III, NAIA and JUCO levels of play with participants earning their spots in the draws through the ITA Regional Small College Championships in which over 8,000 student-athletes competed across 60 Regional Championships across the country.

At the ITA Cup, each division (Division II, Division III, NAIA and JUCO) has its own singles and doubles brackets. If players win, they will continue within the main draw until a national champion is crowned within that draw. Each player is guaranteed at least three matches while at the ITA Cup with the back draw feeding into a compass draw.