HILTON HEAD, South Carolina – Playing against some of the best competition in the nation, Tarleton's Deniza Marcinkevica proved she belonged.

Marcinkevica competed at the ITF 15K in Hilton Head, South Carolina, this past week, advancing to the quarterfinals in the singles main draw. The junior made her way to the main draw by winning both of her matches in the qualifying draw, a 3-6, 6-4 (10-3) win over Austria's Emily Meyer, and a 6-1, 6-0 win over Cameroon's Eugenie Christine Ngo Gwodog.

Marcinkevica, who is from Latvia, matched up with Gwodog again in the first round of the main draw, and won in comfortable fashion a second time, 6-1, 6-1. She then earned a walkover victory over the United States' Alexa Graham, pushing her ahead to the quarterfinals. After her 4-0 start, she was defeated by the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the United States' Katerina Stewart, 4-6, 1-6. Stewart would go on to win the ITF 15K.

"I'm so proud of how Deniza competed this week," head coach Elianne Douglas-Miron said. "The level of competition at this tournament was high and she stepped up and played with a lot of confidence in the important moments. I'm looking forward to seeing how she builds on this performance for the regionals coming up."

It marked Marcinkevica's second tournament as a Texan in her first year with the program. She will next participate in the ITA Division I Women's Texas Regional Championship, along with sophomore Martha Makantasi. That tournament begins Thursday, and depending on results, the Texans could be playing through Sunday.