Aggies notch first win of the season
The Utah State women’s tennis team notched its first win of the season, overpowering Weber State University 5-2.
“I was proud of the effort,” USU head coach Chris Wright said. “It is good to get that first W under the belt.”
In doubles, the Aggies took all three pro-set matches. No. 1 doubles pairing Jaci West and McKenzie Davis held off Wildcats Brittiny Moore and Ashley Tanner to win 8-5.
No. 2 doubles duo Romina Nedkavoic and Kristina Voytsekhovich dominated Weber’s Thais Kurer and Carly Lloyd to win 8-0. Nedkavoic said attacking the net and keeping their intensity high was a key cog in the victory.
“We wanted to be aggressive,” Nedkavoic said. “Place the return of the serves in and then take over the net. Being passive in doubles won’t work out for you, and we wanted to be aggressive.”
No. 3 doubles team Monica Abella and Brianna Harris struggled to close out their match, but came up with big volleys and serves on key points to escape in a tiebreaker, winning their first match as a doubles team 8-7.
Securing the doubles point, the Aggies maintained their momentum in singles action.
No. 1 singles player West defeated WSU’s Moore convincingly, winning the contest 6-2, 6-0.
Davis, in the No. 3 singles position, continued her high level of play, winning her match over Annika Karlsen 6-2, 6-1.
“She is very decisive,” Wright said of Davis. “She moves forward, she shortens points, and she makes people pay the price if they leave balls short. She doesn’t wait for them to miss.”
No. 4 singles player Nedkavoic utilized her big serve and powerful ground strokes to win her match 6-3, 6-2 over Weber’s Michelle Warwick. Where aggressive play benefited Nedkavoic in her doubles match, it was patience that helped her to victory in the singles match.
“The beginning was rough for me — getting into it again after my doubles match,” Nedkavoic said. “It was more about being patient than aggressive — calm down and get balls in.”
No. 6 singles player Abella blanked Weber player Nittaya Phonharath, taking the match 6-0, 6-0.
Voytsekhovich and Julie Tukuafu were the only Aggies to lose, but the losses were not handed over easily. Both players took their opponents to a third-set super tie breaker after losing the first set.
Voytsekhovich fought in the No. 2 singles position against WSU’s Tanner. Tanner took the first set 6-4, but Voytsekhovich fought back to take the second set 7-5, but ended up losing the tie breaker 9-11.
“(Voytsekhovich) always fights no matter what — even when she is not playing her best,” assistant coach Nate Ballam said.
Tukuafu lost the first set to Kurer in the No. 6 singles position in a tie breaker, but Tukuafu found a rhythm on her serve and rallied to take the second set 7-5.
“(Tukuafu) moved better after the first, and I think that was the story, she was able to hit her shots and make them,” Wright said. “Footwork was the emphasis.”
In the super tie breaker, Tukuafu dropped the first four points before taking the next six, but her comeback fell short as Kurer took the super tie breaker 10-8.
USU heads to Bozeman, Montana, for a dual meet against University of New Mexico on Friday and Montana State on Saturday.
– mega.bodi@aggiemail.usu.edu
SENIOR MONICA ABELLA returns a volley during a match against Weber State at the Sports Academy on Tuesday. USU will travel to Bozeman, Mont. over the weekend to face New Mexico and Montana State. TODD JONES photo