CLAREMONT, Calif. - The University of Redlands Women's Tennis team put together a strong performance over the weekend during the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III West Regional.
Six Bulldogs took part in the three-day event, which included a main draw for doubles and three flights of singles. The tournament was hosted by Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Highlighting the weekend was sophomore duo Christine O'Brien (Leawood, KS) and Kiana Brady (Hermosa Beach, CA) who were finalists in the doubles consolation and senior Kendall Bolock (Yucaipa, CA) and first year Mia Goldstein (Ann Arbor, MI) who were main draw doubles quarterfinalists.
Doubles Draw
Three teams were put together by Head Coach Pete Yellico. Bolock and Goldstein were paired up for the first time and came in as the No. 6 seed. They rolled through their first two rounds giving up just one game beating Arendt Keeley/Malvika Suryavanshi (Whittier) 8-1 in the Round of 32 and then Alexis Matabuena/Mathilde Depery (Occidental) 8-0 in the Round of 16. It wasn't until the Quarterfinals where they had their first test coming against Katherine Wurster/Sena Shelby (Claremont-M-S) who won 8-1, knocking out the Bulldogs.
O'Brien and Brady had a tough opening round against No. 7 Ella Brissett and Audrey Yoon (Claremont-M-S) but battled eventually falling 8-6. They then went into the consolation draw where they rolled beating Brooke Waite/Olivia Desso (Chapman) 8-6 (Round of 16), Sara Beckman/Natalie Sprenger (UC Santa Cruz) 8-4 (Quarterfinals), and Olivia Almy/Arushi Malik (Claremont-M-S) 8-2 (Semi-Finals) before falling to No. 5 Sarah Fleming/Andei Fukushige (Occidental) 8-4 (Finals).
The third team put together was junior Madison Sherwood (Las Vegas, NV) and first year Karly Rojas (Poulsbo, WA). They lost in the Round of 32 to Yoyo Benchetrit/Nina Solovyeva (Caltech), but not without putting up a fight going the distance, eventually falling in a breaker 8-7 (4). They then entered the consolation draw where they faced off against Sara Beckman/Natalie Sprenger (UC Santa Cruz), dropping an 8-1 decision.
Flight A Singles
Brady and Goldstein both made it out of the Round of 32 in Singles. Brady beat Anna Szczuka (Caltech) 6-2, 7-5, but ran into Devon Wolfe (Claremont-M-S) in the Round of 16 falling 6-2, 6-3. Goldstein got her first action within SCIAC singles competition taking out Alexandra Coleman (Pomona-Pitzer) in straight sets 7-5, 6-1, but then faced No. 5 Katherine Wurster (Claremont-M-S) dropping 6-1, 6-1.
Bolock got unlucky in her opening round match drawing Gabby Lee (Claremont-M-S). The first set went to a breaker where Lee would pull it out 7-6 (4) and she would use that momentum to win the second 6-2 forcing Bolock into the Consolation Draw. Bolock was set to face Goldie La (Chapman), but unfortunately was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
Flight B Singles
All three Bulldogs in the Flight B draw were unable to get out of the Round of 32, despite putting together some great matches. Sherwood had the match of the day forcing No. 5 Natalie Sprenger (UC Santa Cruz) to a decisive third set 10-point breaker. She rolled 6-2 in the opening set, but saw the match get leveled in the second with her opponent winning it in a breaker 7-6 (5). Sprenger would carry this momentum into the third where she would pull out the win 10-5.
Sherwood then went into the Consolation Draw where she took on Manasvi Vardham (Whittier) and there she was forced out despite another grind at 6-3, 7-6 (3).
O'Brien was up against the No. 2 seed Patria Aziz (Pomona-Pitzer) and fell in straights 6-1, 6-2. She was able to build some momentum taking out Reya Maestas (Cal Lutheran) 6-1, 6-4 and then Vardham (Whittier) 6-1, 6-1, but was forced to retire due to injury in the Semi-Finals to Halle Holzbauer (Caltech).
Rojas got her first taste of SCIAC singles competition against Kayla Kling (Cal Lutheran), but fell in straights 6-3, 6-1. She then entered the Consolation Draw where she was matched up against Payal Patel (Chapman), but again would fall in straights this time 6-3, 6-4.