Perry, Swenson come up strong for tennis team
The USU women’s tennis team competed this past weekend in the BYU Fall Tennis Invitational. USU Head Coach Christian Wright said the invitational is a good way for the girls on the team to gauge where they are physically, and give them an idea of what they need to work on for the season.
“I definitely could see that we need to work out harder so that those matches don’t make us quite so tired,” he said, “but the girls really pushed themselves and fought really hard.”
The first of three days of competition was Thursday. In the Flight A singles draw, sophomore Jaclyn West was the only Aggie to advance in regular competition. West defeated Weber State’s Brittany Moore 6-3, 7-6, 6-1, in the initial round. She went on to beat Melissa Holzinger of Colorado State, by default, in the next round.
“Jaclyn did really well,” Wright said. “I was really pleased with her performance.” Wright also pointed out exceptional performances from Hailey Swenson and Taylor Perry the two seniors on the team. “They both have played well for the years they have been here, and they continue to impress me,” he said.
Juniors Monica Abella, Julie Tukuafu, Brianna Harris and senior Hailey Swenson each advanced to the quarterfinal rounds of the A consolation draw on Thursday.
In the Flight B singles draw, Perry and Watts advanced to the second day of play. Watts defeated Colorado State’s Kaitlin Wooldridge, 7-5, 7-5, in the second round and continued her successful day with a win over Weber State’s Kristi Russel, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, in the quarterfinal round.
Perry moved past the round of 16 with a bye and defeated fellow Utah State teammate and sophomore Mersadi Wilkins, 6-1, 6-0, in the quarterfinal round. Wilkins and sophomores Jenny Phillips and Whitney White each advanced to the quarterfinal rounds.
Battles continued on Friday when Swenson led Utah State in the consolation A draw,
defeating Colorado State’s Lauren Mulhem, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round. Perry advanced to the final round of the B Draw after defeating the Rams’ Lauren Pick, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
On the third and final day of competition, Perry walked away winning first place in the B singles draw, and second in the doubles competition.
“Perry is a very dedicated player,” Wright said.
Perry defeated the cougar’s Andie Young, 6-4, 6-2, in the final round. Perry now holds a 3-0 record in singles play for this fall. She also advanced to the final round of the doubles draw with sophomore partner Jaclyn West. However, Perry and West ultimately fell to BYU’s Callie Craig and Megan Price, 8-6.
Hailey Swenson defeated Wyoming’s Simona Synokova, 6-2, 6-3, advancing to the final round of the consolation B draw where she defeated Brigham Young’s Callie Craig, 6-0, 6-2, taking the first-place spot. (Swenson advanced to 5-1 in singles action thus far.)
Pre-season competition continues for the Ags with the USU Invitational Oct. 1 through Saturday October 2 at the USU outdoor tennis courts.
“We now know a lot of the areas we need to work on, and will continue to work hard and do our best,” said Wright. “All of the girls really mesh together well this season; I am so impressed with that. We are going to have a great team.”
– kayla.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu