By Long Beach State women’s tennis competed in the ITA Southwest Regionals Oct. 17 through 19 and ended the tournament with a few highs but overall a lackluster performance.
The Long Beach standout of the tournament was sophomore Emma Bardet, who strung together four wins in a row. The most significant win was against Hawaii’s junior Petra Melounova, the reigning Big West Player of the Year and ranked 33rd in the nation.
“Reaching the quarterfinals of the Southwest Regionals is a difficult task and Emma should be very proud of her performance this weekend,” head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said. “I know that we are going to see more performances like this from her in the future.”
Bardet’s singles run ended in the quarter-finals against Pepperdine’s junior Anastasia Iamachkine. Bardet holds a 9-3 record this preseason, making her and sophomore Zara Lennon tied for the most wins on the team.
According to Hilt-Costello, Bardet has the talent to be a “top college player.”
Lennon also had success in singles but was cut short when she lost in the round of 64 in two close sets 6-4, 7-6.
Last year’s two most successful singles players, sophomore Wiktoria Rutkowska and senior Natalia Munoz, also chipped in their fair share of wins during the weekend.
Munoz and Rutkowska recorded wins outside of the bracket, carrying some momentum forward as the team looks to bounce back.
“We did have a few matches where we did not put our best foot forward…but tennis is about [the] ups and downs and working through the downs,” Hilt-Costello said. “I definitely feel that we learned from every match and we will be working on those areas the next few weeks.”
Long Beach will travel to Northridge for the CSUN Fall Invitational Nov. 8 through 10 at the Matador Tennis Complex.
