The ITA Regionals meet is arguably the toughest and most important meet of the fall season. The Idaho women’s tennis team is competing in the Mountain Region of the meet, which started Wednesday and ends Sunday in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Three Vandals were able to get past the first round in the singles matches, while only one fell in the opening round.
Sophomore Galina Bykova had a successful opening round, beating Dominique Beauvais of Weber State, a new conference foe for Idaho, 6-0, 6-0. Bykova, a sophomore from St. Petersburg, Russia, advanced to second round of play the No. 5 seed Maureen Slattery of Denver.
Senior Emmie Marx also started the tournament on the right foot. Marx defeated Jocelle Rudico from Air Force, beating her 6-0, 6-1. She advanced to the second round where she will play the No. 3 seed Mayci Jones from BYU.
The third Vandal to advance past the first round was freshman Lucia Badillos. Taking on Arianna Paules Aldrey from rival Boise State, Badillos was able to win the first set 6-3, before falling in the second set 1-6. In the third set, it came down to the wire as Badillos narrowly escaped with a 7-6 win and a 2-1 match win. She advances to play Colorado’s Kyra Wojcik in the second round. Wojcik is just a freshman but she is also the No. 17 seed.
The one Vandal to not make it out of the first round was senior Sophie Vickers. Going up against Sharon Coone from New Mexico, Vickers played a competitive first set losing by a narrow 7-6 final. In the second set however, Vickers failed to keep it close and lost 6-2.
Idaho faired well in doubles play on day one. Idaho’s pair of Badillos and Marx beat a Wyoming duo of Cecilia Mercier and Silviya Zhelyazkova 8-2 in the opening round. Idaho’s other doubles pair of Bykova and Vickers also bested their opponents winning 8-3 over Weber State’s Beauvais and Agata Bachanek.
The Vandals were still competing Thursday at press time.
Ben Evensen can be reached at [email protected]