Tennis teams show strong during weekend tournaments
Uah State women’s tennis hosted and competed in the USU Invitational with Idaho State and Weber State this weekend, advancing three singles competitors into the semifinal rounds on Saturday. Senior Hailey Swenson defeated sophomore teammate Jenny Phillips, 6-2, 6-2, in the round of 16. Swenson then defeated the Aggies’ Julie Tukuafu, 6-2, 6-3, in the round of eight.
Kristina Voytsekhovich advanced to the semifinals after defeating Weber State’s Michelle Warwick, 6-1, 6-1, and USU senior Taylor Perry, 6-0, 6-4, in the rounds of 16 and eight, respectively. Jaclyn West defeated Weber State’s Kristi Russell, 6-3, 6-0, in the round of 16 and defeated the Wildcats’ Brittiny Moore by default in the round of eight.
In doubles competition, the Aggies advanced in two of the four possible slots in Saturday’s semifinal draw. Swenson and West enjoyed a bye in the first round and a win over Idaho State’s Risa Fujiwara and Rilee Moorhead, 8-2, in the second round. Harris and Voytsekhovich enjoyed a bye and defeated WSU’s Jeya Jenkins and Markay Mullen, 8-1, in the rounds of 16 and eight, respectively.
USU senior Hailey Swenson took first place in the singles flight. Swenson defeated Voytsekhovich, 6-1, 6-1, in semifinals and WSU’s Naseem Eslami, 6-3, 6-2, in the final round. Swenson now holds a 9-1 season record thus far in the season.
Swenson continued to dominate competition with doubles partner, sophomore Jaclyn West. Swenson and West took the doubles title after defeating Weber State’s Annika Karlsen and Kristi Russell, 8-1, in the semifinals and junior Brianna Harris and Voytsekhovich, 8-4, to win the final round. Swenson and West are now a perfect 3-0 in doubles competition this fall, a good indicator of the girl’s possible success in the spring.
The women will wrap up fall tournament play with the ITA Regionals in Las Vegas, Nev. from Oct. 13-16.
“We now know a lot of the areas we need to work on, and will continue to work hard and do our best,” said head coach Christian Wright earlier this season. “All of the girls really mesh together well this season; I am so impressed with that. We are going to have a great team.”
The Utah State men’s tennis completed the first round of the prestigious 2010 D’Novo ITA Men’s Tennis All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The matches were held at Case Tennis Center.
Senior Nikita Ryashchenko defeated Tulsa’s Patrick Collins, 6-3, 6-0, in the first round. Ryashchenko then fell to New Mexico State’s Arthur Surreaux, 6-2, 6-2, giving him a 2-2 record this season.
Sophomore Sven Poslusny was defeated by Iowa’s Marc Bruche, 6-2, 6-2, and senior Bryan Marchant fell to Hawaii’s Jared Spiker, 7-6, 7-5, in their first rounds. Senior Jakob Asplund fell to Oklahoma State’s Eric West, 6-1, 6-2, and senior Alex Thatcher lost to Old Dominion’s Krzysztof Muzalewski, 6-2, 7-5.
The men’s team continues competition Oct. 14 – 6 at the Utah Invitational in Salt Lake City.
– kayla.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu