Rose Marie Nijkamp reached the ITA All-American singles semifinals and teamed with Carmen Herea to push Texas into the doubles final four.
Rose Marie Nijkamp is making an immediate impact for Texas women's tennis, and Friday may have been her biggest statement yet.
The No. 26-ranked junior powered her way into the singles semifinals at the ITA Women's All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina, while also teaming with Carmen Herea to reach the doubles semifinals.
Nijkamp won three matches Friday across the two draws.
The 16th seed opened singles play by defeating No. 53 Zuzanna Kubacha of Baylor, 7-5, 6-2, in the round of 16.
She then jumped ahead of No. 31 Aspen Schuman of Duke, 3-0, in the opening set before Schuman retired from the quarterfinal match.
That sent Nijkamp into Saturday's semifinal against Ohio State's Luciana Perry, the tournament's No. 2 seed and nation's No. 3-ranked player.
Nijkamp wasn't finished.
She and Herea, ranked No. 17 nationally in doubles, had to fight their way past Texas A&M's No. 34-ranked Lexington Reed and Kristina Paskauskas.
The Longhorns dropped the opening set, 6-4, before responding with a 6-3 second-set victory and then dominating the deciding superbreaker, 10-2.
That comeback earned Nijkamp and Herea a semifinal matchup with North Carolina's sixth-seeded and No. 8-ranked tandem of Maddy Zampardo and Susanna Maltby.
For Nijkamp, the run offers an early glimpse of why Texas was so eager to add the Oklahoma State transfer.
“I chose Texas because I truly believe it is the best place for me to keep growing as a player and as a person,” Nijkamp said after signing with the Longhorns.
“It feels like a place where everyone pushes each other, supports each other and wants to achieve big things together.”
She's certainly doing that quickly.
Nijkamp entered Texas with an already impressive résumé that included 2025 ITA All-America honors in doubles, a 32-9 collegiate singles record at Oklahoma State and a 36-5 doubles mark.
Now she's one victory away from an ITA All-American singles championship match — while still chasing another title alongside Herea.
