Led by Bykova, Vandals finish season on high note
The women’s tennis fall season came to a close for Idaho last weekend at the Gonzaga Hitting Dual in Spokane. After three days of matches, the Vandals have winter off to prepare for the spring season.
Unlike the other fall tournaments for Idaho, the Gonzaga Hitting Dual operated differently, pitting schools against each other in singles and doubles each day, instead of using a more random bracket.
“Overall, it was a great weekend,” Idaho coach Mariana Cobra said. “We got to see where we stand in the Big Sky. We had nice wins against Montana, who won the regular season last year. I am pleased with how we competed, but would like to see some more steady play from our doubles.”
On day one, Idaho started the event against the Montana State Bobcats in doubles. The Vandals sent three doubles pairs with seniors Emmie Marx and Beatriz Flores, freshman Lucia Badillos and junior Rita Bermudez and sophomore Galina Bykova and senior Sophie Vickers. All three Vandal teams were victorious over MSU.
Later in the day, Idaho went up against Portland State with the same doubles teams, except Marx teamed up with sophomore Claire Yang. The new pair didn’t fair quite as well, as they were the only Vandal pair to lose to the Vikings. Despite the one loss, Idaho still finished day one with a 5-1 record for doubles.
The Vandals found themselves against familiar competition in Seattle U to finish off the day, this time competing against the Redhawks in singles. Six Vandals competed, and Bykova, Vickers, Badillos and Flores all finished with victories.
Day two pitted Idaho against host Gonzaga in doubles, and the Bulldogs took care of business, dispersing Marx and Badillos, Vickers and Bykova and Flores and Bermudez to defeat the Vandals 3-0.
In singles for day two, Bykova picked up another win over Precious Gbadamosi of Montana, while Marx, Vickers and Bermudez also won their games against Montana competition. Badillos and Flores were saddled with the losses to wrap up day two for Idaho.
Finally, day three rolled around and this time the doubles pairs took on Eastern Washington. Bykova and Yang took the first match against Erin Blessing and Dani Young, while Vickers and Bermudez and Flores and Badillos finished off the 3-0 sweep of the Eagles.
To wrap up the event, Idaho faced off with Gonzaga in singles again, splitting 2-2 as Bykova and Marx took home the wins. Flores squared off against Ana Carbo of Montana, battling back from a first set loss to take the win.
For Idaho, fall couldn’t have ended on a much better note than it did. Bykova continued her on- court success after the ITA Regionals, winning three of her four doubles matches and sweeping all three of her singles matches. Vickers also had a solid weekend, going 3-1 in her doubles matches and 2-0 in her singles matches.
The Vandals return next spring for more tennis action, including their return to the Big Sky Conference.
“The girls have really bought in since day one of fall and it’s great to see how much they have improved and grown so far,” Cobra said. “We definitely have a lot of areas that we need to keep improving on, but it is great to finish the fall season where we are.”
Ben Evensen can be reached at [email protected]