ROME, Georgia - Ella Brissett and Alisha Chulani earned a convincing 6-2, 6-1 win in the opening round of the ITA Cup Women's Division III Doubles Championship on Thursday at the Rome Tennis Center to advance to Friday's quarterfinals. 

Brissett and Chulani defeated Anna Chow and Shelly Zinchenko of Carnegie Mellon and will move on to face the third seed in the tournament, Oliwia Mikos and Sylwia Mikos of Chicago, at 4:30 p.m. local time tomorrow (1:30 p.m. Pacific). 

Chulani and Brissett have both earned All-America honors in doubles before, but with different partners. Chulani and Nikolina Batoshvili, who graduated last spring, were three-time All-Americans and ended last year as the No. 1 ranked doubles team in the nation, reaching the finals of the NCAA Division III Doubles Championship before ending as runners-up. 

Brissett, meanwhile, teamed with Lindsay Eisenman, who is studying abroad this fall, to win the ITA West Regional Championship last year, to secure All-America honors. 

Chulani has faced both Mikos sisters of Chicago throughout her career, including doubles matches against Slywia Mikos in both NCAA Championship matches in 2022 and 2023, winning both with Batoshvili. She also had an unfinished singles match against her in the 2023 NCAA Championship, which was halted in the third set after Batoshvili clinched the title with a singles win. A year ago, Chulani and Batoshvili defeated Olywia Mikos and Rena Lin of the Maroons in the ITA Indoor Championship match. 

Brissett and Chulani can advance to Saturday's semifinals with a win tomorrow, with the championship match being held on Sunday.