A “Lone Ranger”: Top Women’s Singles Contender Flying Solo

By Michael Reff
Press Committee Chair

In sports, it’s all about the numbers and unique statistical gems. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, a curious nugget of mathematics appears. And so it has: for only the second time in NCTTA history, a sole representative (aka a “Lone Ranger!”) from a school tops the draw for the Women’s Singles competition at the 2025 NCTTA Championships in Rockford, IL!

Elite Baylor University student-athlete Sarah Jalli, a biology/premed freshman with a 2420 rating, is indeed the number 1 seed and will be the only participant from her college at the Championships this year.

After I came across this incredible fact, I had to confirm its authenticity with our resident NCTTA historian President Willy Leparulo.

After a long period of accessing more than 15 years’ worth of his brain’s databases, he let me know that the only other Women’s “Lone Ranger” who topped the single’s event was Jiaqi Zheng of Northwestern Polytechnic in 2012.

There are two other Women’s Singles players flying solo for 2025: No. 21 seeded Princeton freshman Nicole Deng and No. 34 seeded Florida psychology major Zishu Zhou. Though not as highly ranked as Jalli, it is great to see them brave the long travels to show off their table tennis prowess and earn glory for themselves as well as their respective schools.

In close contention with Jalli, there are No. 2 seeded Kelly Yenn (Harvard), No.3 seeded Joanna Sung (UCLA), and sisters, Emily (Boston University) and Angie Tan (UCLA), seeded No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Both Joanna and Angie will also be representing UCLA’s Women’s team, and Emily and Kelly will have additional duties representing their Coed and Women’s Teams for Boston University and Harvard respectively.

Best of luck to all those vying for the Women’s singles hardware!

(Pictured is Lone Ranger Women’s Singles top seed Sarah Jalli of Baylor University: Photo by Grant Bergmann)

About 2025 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships

The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and GoRockford (Rockford Convention and Visitors Bureau). The event crowns national champions in Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, Men’s/Coed Teams, and Women’s Teams. Also this year a first in NCTTA’s history is the Collegiate National Team trials on Thursday April 3rd for the 2025 World University Games.

PongSpace, Peaka Pong, Stiga and Paddle Palace will sponsor the event.

Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 4th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2025/video.html

About NCTTA

The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org