ORLANDO, Fla. – Washington State sophomore Michaela Bayerlova posted a straight-set victory in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship Monday afternoon at the USTA National Campus.
 
Bayerlova, ranked No. 42 nationally, never trailed as she defeated No. 55 Lauren Proctor of Winthrop, 6-4, 6-3. It marked the second-straight season Bayerlova won her opening-round match at the NCAA Championship, the only Cougar to ever win a round in program history.
 
"Michaela did a great job of playing her game from the first point of the match," said WSU Head Coach Lisa Hart. "She is playing her best tennis at the perfect time and now will recover and get ready for another battle Tuesday."
 
In the first set, Bayerlova jumped out with an early break to lead 3-1 and added another for a 5-2 advantage. Proctor gained one break back and closed to 5-4 before Bayerlova held serve when Proctor netted a forehand for a 6-4 first set.
 
In the second, both players held serve early before Bayerlova broke for the 3-2 lead. The Cougar sophomore capitalized by holding serve the next game for a 4-2 advantage. Bayerlova then served out the match with a pair of holds to win 6-4, 6-3 and advance to the Round of 32.
 
Bayerlova improves to 23-7 on the season and is now 8-5 against nationally-ranked players.
 
Play continues Tuesday at the NCAA Championships as Bayerlova will face the winner of No. 17 Paige Cline of South Carolina and No. 25 Katarina Stresnakova of Oklahoma State. Tuesday also marks the first round of doubles play as WSU's duo of Tiffany Mylonas and Hikaru Sato will face Winthrop's Proctor and Megan Kauffman. Tuesday's match times for singles and doubles have not been announced.