Women’s tennis team loses two of three over weekend
Utah State women’s tennis traveled to Boise, Idaho, this weekend for two days of competition, facing off with the Boise State Broncos and Idaho State on Friday. On Saturday the team finished up the weekend of play with a match against WAC foe Louisiana Tech. Results of the weekend were mixed, losing both matches on Friday, but claiming the victory on Saturday.
USU lost a harsh 4-0 to Boise in its first match of the weekend.
“We knew they were going to be a tough team going into the match, but the girls played hard,” head coach Christian Wright said. “Boise has a great program, that’s just it.”
Boise State claimed three of the singles points, with the rest of the matches left unfinished due to BSU’s victories. BSU’s Pichittra Thongdach, who is nationally ranked at No. 46, played an unfinished match against USU’s junior Hayley Swenson at No. 1. Freshman Jaclyn West played an unfinished match as well, at No. 2, against the Bronco’s Lauren Megale. Freshman Kristina Voytsekhovich fell, at the No. 3 position, to Bianca Jochimsen, 6-0, 6-3. At No. 4, sophomore Monica Abella was defeated by Stephanie Jasper, 6-1, 6-0. Junior Taylor Perry went on to play an unfinished match against BSU’s Marlena Pietzuch at No. 5, and senior Britney Watts fell 6-1 6-1 to Rocio Frej at No. 6, finishing up the singles action against Boise.
Swenson and West took the court first in doubles, losing to Megale and Thongdach, 8-4, at No. 1. Voytsekhovich and Perry were up next, falling to Boise’s Jochimsen and Edwards, 8-7. At No. 3, Watts and Abella lost 8-1 to Jasper and Frej, finishing up USU’s first match of the day.
Idaho State was the next opponent, starting the match only a short time after the match against Boise State had ended.
“Doubleheaders are hard,” Wright said. “You get physically and mentally tired really fast, but the girls do a great job about keeping up with it all.”
USU lost the match 7-0.
Swenson lost at No. 1 to U of I’s Gabriela Niculescu, 6-1, 6-1, as did West, losing at No. 2 to M. Perevoshchikova, 6-0, 7-6. Voytsekhovich battled through three sets to be defeated by Silvia Irimescu, 4-6, 6-1, 11-9. Abella lost 6-4, 6-1 to Idaho’s Alexandra Ulesanu, and, at No. 5, Perry fell to Barbara Maciocha, 6-1, 6-0. Watts finished up singles action with a three-set match, losing to U of I’s Yvette Ly, 4-6, 7-6, 10-4.
Doubles action saw same results as that of singles. West and Swenson lost a close 9-8 to Niculescu and Perevoshchikova at No. 1, and, at No. 2, Perry and Cecile Vichery fell to Cohen and Ly, 8-4. Abell and Watts were the last to play, with a loss against Maciocha and Ulesanu, 8-3.
On Saturday, USU concluded the weekend of competition with a win against Louisiana Tech, 5-2.
The doubles point was dropped with losses at the No. 2 and 3 positions. West and Swenson won at No. 1 against Vichery and Juarez, 8-7, but Voytsekhovich and Perry couldn’t keep up with Louisiana Tech’s Erofeyeva and Maartje de Wit, losing 8-5. Swenson and West improved to a 14-8 doubles record with this match, also giving them a 3-5 WAC mark. Abella and Watts lost, as well, at No. 3, losing to Dolle and Rodriguez, 8-3.
Momentum for USU picked up despite the doubles-point loss, gaining points in all singles positions, save for No. 1. Swenson who was defeated by LTU’s Vivian ten Dolle, 6-3, 4-6, 11-9.
“It’s hard to come back after losing the doubles point, but I was really impressed with the girls for fighting back,” Wright said. Hayley sure tried hard, and it was such a close loss.”
West, at No. 2, proved victorious over Cecile Vichery, 6-3, 6-3, and, at No. 3, Voytsekhovich defeated Alena Erofeyeva, 6-3, 6-3. West currently leads the Aggies with WAC singles record. Abella continued the winning streak, beating de Wit 6-2, 6-0. Perry won 6-1, 6-0 to LSU’s Laura Rodriguez, and Watts finished up the weekend on a high note, with a win against Rocio Juarez, 6-3, 6-4. Wright said he was happy about the win and was a good ending to the weekend.
Wednesday, April 21, will mark the final home and regular season match for Utah State, when the Aggies host their match against Idaho State.
“We’re excited to be back at home and want to finish the season strong,” Wright said.
– kayla.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu