Women’s tennis defeats Eagles, lose to Rebels
Utah State’s women’s tennis team had the busiest weekend of its season thus far. They began on the road at 6-1 and 35th-ranked UNLV on Friday. The Aggies continued play on Saturday while staying on the road in Las Vegas to take on the UC Riverside Highlanders. They concluded President’s day weekend with a match against the Eagles of Eastern Washington at home Monday.
USU was 2-1 as the weekend began and they took their talents to UNLV’s home courts. The tough Rebel team swept the Aggies in both singles and doubles play. After losing all three doubles matches, Aggie sophomore Jaclyn West opened singles play with a tough three-set loss to Lucia Batta. West took the first set 4-6, but eventually fell, as Batt stormed back and won the next two 6-1, 6-3. Following West, the Aggies all fell in straight sets and took a loss on the road 7-0 to and dropped to 2-2 on the season.
Saturday the Aggies stayed in Vegas to face the Highlanders. The Aggies bounced back with a much needed 4-2 win over the Highlanders. Fierce winds and rain temporarily delayed the match and ultimately forced the teams to forgo doubles play.
In singles play the Aggies started strong with three straight wins. The first two came in the form of straight set victories. West won her respective match over UCR’s Taylor Raney 6-2, 7-6.
West was followed by senior Hailey Swenson, as she won over Jaime Raney again in two sets 6-2, 6-3. Kristina Voytsekhovich also claimed a victory over the Highlander’s Nadia Sakhakorn in a tough three-set match. After dropping the first set 2-6, Voytsekhovich battled back and won the next two handily 6-3, 6-2.
USU suffered their first losses in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. UCR’s Natalie Mckay defeated USU’s Romina Nedakovic in a narrow 6-4, 7-5 victory. And Julie Tukuafu lost to UCR’s Angelique Corpuz in a hard fought three set match. Tukuafu lost 7-5, won the second set 3-6, and lost the final set 6-4. Brianna Harris bounced back with a win at the No. 6 position over Kate Bergeson 6-3, 6-3. Harris’ victory sealed the Aggies win 4-2.
USU took on Eastern Washington at home on Monday and came away with a 4-2 victory. The Aggies swept doubles with wins from Swenson and Nedakovic over Nefeli Diamanti and Judy Liening 8-1. West and Voytsekhovich beat EWU’s Chelsea Patton and Caitlin Bampton by the same score, 8-1. Taylor Perry and Tukuafu closed with a Helon Ricks and Rocio Norena 8-3.
The women kept the momentum and won all six singles matches in two sets a piece. West, Swenson, Voytsekhovich, and Harris won their matches to improve their individual records to 2-1. Nedakovic and Tukuafu won their first matches of the weekend, Nedakovic over EWU’s Ricks 7-5, 6-0, and Tukuafu over Diamanti 6-3, 6-4. Utah State won easily 7-0.
The Aggies improved to 4-2 on the year and head into a busy weekend in Dallas, Texas. They open the four-match series against North Texas Thursday at 1 p.m.
– bret.clapier@aggiemail.usu.edu