PULLMAN, Wash.— Utah State women's tennis finished Day 2 at the Washington State Invitational and has a chance for titles on Sunday after advancing to the championship matches in draws for both singles and doubles.
"Today I was really proud of our team," head coach Sean McInerney said. "We had a bunch of really hard match-ups, we played very smart, and we were given a chance in each match."
In singles, Lucy Octave fell short to Montana State's Julia Ronney, 3-6, 6-7 (4). Gabrielle Dekkers lost to Washington's Savana-Ly-Nguyen, 3-6, 4-6. Octave than went on to defeat Idaho's Melissa Huchet, 1-6, 7-5, 11-9, in the consolation draw. Dekkers came up short to Boise State's Emily Strande, 6-4, 3-6, 8-10.
Hannah Jones defeated Seattle's Kyra Jung, 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals where she lost to Washington's Melisa Ates, 6-4, 5-7, 0-6. Zara Ryan defeated Idaho's Marta Magalhaes in the quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-3, then Ryan went on to defeat Montana's Maria Coheen, 6-4, 6-4, in the semifinals.
Carolina Millan defeated Seattle's Alisa Sabotic, 6-3, 7-5, in the quarterfinals, where she then went on to defeat Eastern Washington's Renata Gabuzyan, 6-3, 6-0. Sidnee Lavatai defeated Boise's Frankie Trella, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Lavatai then beat Eastern Washington's Yasmin Mansouri, 6-1, 7-6 (6) in the semifinals.
Reneta Lombera lost to Washington's Maddie Egan, 2-6, 3-6, in the semifinals, but then turned around and defeated Montana's Daphne Haverkamp, 6-2, 6-2, in the consolation draw. Annaliese County defeated Idaho's IIana Oleynik, 6-0, 6-4.
"Winning 10 singles matches today was fantastic," McInerney said. "I am excited to see what we can do with those opportunities."
In doubles, Jones and Lavatai lost to Washington's Melisa Ates and Hikaru Sato, 3-6. County and Octave defeated Gonzaga's Tamara Anderson and Haruna Tsuruta, 7-5, in the semifinals.
Lombera and Millan defeated Boise's Ana Conde Vendrell and Emily Strande, 6-2. Dekkers and Ryan defeated Montana's Claudia Reguant and Alex Walker, 6-2.
"We went 3-1 in doubles today, including a team making it to tomorrow's championship match in both the draws," McInerney said. "Having four players reach the championship matches tomorrow is a great accomplishment."
Fans can follow USU's women's tennis team on Twitter @USUWomensTennis, on Facebook at UtahStateWomensTennis or on Instagram @USUWomensTennis. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter at @USUAthletics, on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics or on Instagram @USUAthletics.
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