In the midst of fall tournament season, Idaho women’s tennis coach Mariana Cobra isn’t afraid to juggle her lineup daily.
That’s just what she did last weekend in the WSU Invitational in Pullman. The tournament, which ran from Friday to Sunday, featured Portland and Pac-12 contenders Oregon and WSU.
“It doesn’t matter if we are playing against WSU or Oregon,” Cobra said. “We will compete with them no matter what I thought the competition and effort was awesome.”
Sophomore Galina Bykova led the Vandals in singles play, going 2-1 over the weekend. She finished second in the No. 2 singles flight.
“Bykova had a great tournament in singles,” Cobra said. “She ended up making the finals and I was impressed with her play overall.”
Sophomore transfer student Claire Yang competed in her first match as a Vandal, losing 6-1, 6-4 to WSU’s Elizaveta Luzina. Yang, who sat out last week due to a foot injury, replaced the graduated Vicky Lozano in the No. 1 spot for Idaho.
Fellow transfer student Emmie Marx and freshman Lucia Badillos both won their first singles match. Marx was 1-1 in singles and Badillos finished 2-1, earning third place in No. 2 singles after a 6-4, 6-3 win against WSU’s Victoria Matejevic.
In doubles play, Idaho switched its lineup Sunday because Cobra didn’t like Saturday’s pairings.
“Doubles wasn’t ideal on Saturday,” Cobra said. “We had some good combinations for Sunday but we are still working on doubles pairings. I think playing in these tournaments allows us to change up our combinations easily.”
Cobra paired senior Sophie Vickers and Yang together Saturday. She also had Bykova and Badillos together early, but moved Bykova with Vickers Sunday.
“There are one or two (doubles) teams doing really well,” Cobra said. “In doubles, we have to do a better job at not letting them get free points and making every point count. I always tell them that the first serve in is huge.”
Bykova and Vickers went 2-0 Sunday, defeating both duos they faced from Portland.
Yang was paired with Badillos Sunday, as the pair split its two matches 1-1.
“It was a positive weekend for us.” Cobra said. “Every girl represented the Vandals well and competed at every position.”
Conor Gleason can be reached at [email protected]