BERKELEY, Calif. -- The Gonzaga women's tennis team continued their participation in the Cal Fall Invite earlier today. The Zags opened their fall tournament season strong, finding multiple victories yesterday in the singles and doubles competitions.
Opening today's action with doubles matches, Gonzaga dominated early, with
Ella Nielsen and
Rose Hayes picking up an 8-4 victory against Long Beach State's Doga Akyurek and Paulina Franco. Later on, Gonzaga's
Lia Espinal and Carolina Wernli cruised to an 8-2 win over Pacific's Zara Fung and Leyanne Hirota. Facing San Jose State's Carolina Millan and Irena Muradyan, Gonzaga's
Kianna Oda and
Emily Robertson battled, but dropped their doubles match by a score of 8-5.
Moving to the singles competition, Oda got off to an excellent start, defeating Saint Mary's Stefanie Silva 7-5, 6-1 in straight sets. Hayes also picked up a singles victory, clinching a 6-3, 6-4 win against UC Davis's Carly Schwartzberg. Nielsen moved to the Quarterfinal of the White Draw, winning her match against Cal Poly's Natalie Lynch after she withdrew due to injury.
In her Round of 16 match of the Main Draw, Gonzaga's
Tiegan Aitken fell to San Francisco's Simran Chhabra by a score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Also in the Main Draw of the Round of 16, Wernli advanced to the Quarterfinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 victory over Cal Poly's Sarah MacCallum. Playing in the Consolations bracket, Espinal executed one of the most impressive comebacks of this season. After getting swept in the first set against Long Beach State's Mathilde Tranberg, Espinal came back to win the next two sets by a score of 6-1, 11-9.
Later in the day, Wernli lost her singles match against Long Beach State's Becirovic Novak by a score of 6-2, 1-6, 7-5. Robertson also dropped her match against Stanford's Eleana Yu, losing by a score of 6-0, 6-4.
Closing today's action for Gonzaga was Nielsen, who defeated San Jose State's Duru Durgu by a score of 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the Semifinals of the Main Draw.
Up next:
Gonzaga will conclude their action at the Cal Fall Invite tomorrow. A live stream of tomorrow's action can be found at GoZags.com.
Visit the GoZags.com website, and follow the @ZagWTennis account on social media, to stay up-to-date with Gonzaga women's tennis!
