Women's Tennis Goes to 8-0 with Victory over Washington State
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Women's tennis team improved to its school-record start to 8-0 after defeating Washington State, 4-3, on Friday afternoon from the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
"I am so proud of this team and their resilience," remarked head coach Ric Mortera. "Credit Washington State for playing the big points better than us in the doubles. We have some things we would like to adjust and get implemented for our next match. That being said, I continue to be impressed with how this team has responded to challenges and how much growth they have shown this season thus far. We continue to show a strong bond as we battle through these matches, which I am most happy about. This was a great team win, and we are going to enjoy for today and then set our minds towards our preparations for a great opportunity against a good Minnesota team Sunday."
In doubles, Linda Huang and Madison Tattini were able to win against the Washington State team, Michaela Bayerlova/ Maxine Murphy, 6-2.
Katya Hersh and Lindsay Hung fought it out against the WSU team, Elyse Tse / Savanna Ly-Nguyen, in a very tough match. The Utes were losing the match 4-5 but were able to clinch another game to send the match to a tiebreaker. Hersh / Hung kept close to the Cougars in the next two games but lost the match, 5-7.
Anastasia Goncharova and Emily Dush went head to head with the Cougar team of Fifa Kumhom / Yang Lee and narrowly lost the match, 6-4, dropping the doubles point to the Cougars.
Dush, in second singles, was able to come away with a singles point against Washington State's Savanna Ly-Nguyen, 6-4 6-3. In third singles, Hung won 6-2, 6-3 against her opponent, Maxine Murphy. Tattini clinched her win against the WSU player Fifa Kumhom, 6-2, 6-3. Following Tattini's win, the Utes held a 3-2 lead.
In sixth singles, Anya Lamoreaux's put up an intense fight against Cougar Hania Abouelsaad. Lamoreaux lost her first set but came back to win her second 6-3. She and her opponent traded games in the third set until she was narrowly defeated, 6-3. This tied the match at 3-3.
In the last match of the day, Goncharova went head to head with opponent Elyse Tse, with the teams tied 3-3. Goncharova barely lost her first set in a 7-point tiebreaker, 7-6(8). She went on to win her second set, 6-1, sending the match into a third set where she was able to clinch her singles win and a team victory. Utah came away with a 4-3 team win, and Utah improved to 8-0 on the season.
UP NEXT
Utah host Minnesota on Sunday at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center. First serve is set for 9 a.m. MT.
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