SPOKANE, Wash. – As the dust settles on a jam-packed weekend of tournament tennis at the Stevens Center, the Bulldogs emerge as champions of two singles draws and one doubles bracket.
Emily Robertson/
Safien Boulonois began the final day of the Gonzaga Invitational by beating Seattle 6-2 in a doubles title match. The pairing trailed 1-2 before rattling off five straight points. Robertson/Boulonois capped off an unbeaten weekend where they ceded only nine points across four bouts.
In a doubles consolation match,
Norhan Hesham/
Brooke Bittner fell 7-5 to MSU.
Singles championship matches on Sunday included a traditional third set if necessary, rather than a deciding 10-point tiebreaker as used for the rest of the tournament. Third sets were indeed necessary for all three of Gonzaga's singles title bouts, with
Ella Nielsen and
Brooke Bittner conquering their final frames.
Emily Robertson fell to Portland after clawing back to force the deciding set.
Nielsen and Bittner had similar paths to victory today, both winning their first frame 6-3. Nielsen dropped the second set to Utah State, then prevailed in the third frame, which included a 7–1 tiebreaker after the tally was knotted at six. Bittner dropped her second set tiebreaker to Portland, then triumphed 6-4 to settle the score.
In extra singles,
Rose Hayes beat Utah State 6-4, 6-4, while
Lia Espinal,
Safien Boulonois,
Norhan Hesham, and
Savannah Johnson fell in hard-fought matches.
Up next: The Bulldogs will travel to Eugene for the Oregon Invite, before closing out the fall slate at the Watanabe Tournament in Las Vegas.
Results
Gold Doubles Finals:
Emily Robertson/
Safien Boulonois def. Natalia Michta/Lola Tavcar (Seattle) 6-2
Consolation Doubles Finals: Meg McCarty/Mia Ljubas (MSU) def.
Norhan Hesham/
Brooke Bittner 7-5
Gold Singles Finals: Sally Pethybridge (Portland) def.
Emily Robertson 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Blue Singles Finals:
Ella Nielsen def. Ana Sabikova (USU) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1)
Red Singles Finals:
Brooke Bittner def. Meagan Pearson (Portland) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4
Extra Singles:
Rose Hayes def. Indya Nespor (USU) 6-4, 6-4
Cielo Tapia-Cruz (USU) def.
Lia Espinal 0-6, 6-1, 10-1
Marta Garcia-Reboredo (MSU) def.
Safien Boulonois 6-3, 4-6, 10-7
Nadine Arbaizar Martinez (Portland) def.
Norhan Hesham 6-3, 7-5
Monika Fizova (Montana) def.
Savannah Johnson 6-1, 6-1
