Idaho Vandal freshman Maria Tavares made an immediate impact during her first tournament with the Vandal tennis team, reaching the finals of her draw Sunday morning as a part of the Washington State Invitational in Pullman.
The recent addition to the Vandals’ roster cruised to victory over her first two opponents in the Gray Flight of singles play, before facing Shweta Sangwan of Oregon in the championship. She put up a resilient fight, but ended up falling to Sangwan in two sets, 0-6, 4-6.
Tavares began singles play in the Gray Flight against Trang Huynh of Washington State, easily claiming the match, 6-1, 6-1. She then faced Marlou Kluiving of Oregon in the semifinals of the flight, earning a grueling 6-4, 7-5 victory.
Tavares wasn’t the only Vandal who opened up the season with a notable showing at the Washington State Invitational.
Sophomores Lucia Badillos and Ana Batiri also defeated their opening opponents in the first round of their respective flights Friday. Junior Claire Yang even bounced back from an opening-round loss to Victoria Matejevic of Washington State to reach the consolation finals of her flight, where she beat Marina Reimers of Portland, 6-2, 6-2.
Batiri, a recent transfer from Virginia Commonwealth, won her opening singles match of the Crimson Flight by defeating Radina Dimitrov of Portland 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. During Batiri’s semifinal match Saturday, she lost to Washington State’s Donika Bashota by a score of 1-6, 4-6.
During Batiri’s final match of singles play, she faced Maria Biryukova of Washington State, falling 0-6, 6-1, to conclude the tournament.
Badillos won her opening singles match of the Cougar Flight with a prolonged victory against Oregon’s Christi Woodson, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. On Saturday, Badillos faced Lize Leenknecht of Washington State in the semifinals, losing another lengthy match, 4-6, 6-2, 2-6.
To conclude singles play, Badillos met Nancy Menjivar of Boise State in a clash of rival opponents, claiming a notable victory, 6-3, 6-2.
Meanwhile, Yang began her singles play with a loss to Victoria Matejevic, 2-6, 3-6. She rebounded with a strong showing against Paloma Gomez of Oregon, capturing a 6-4, 6-4 victory and reaching the consolation finals.
Yang easily disposed of Marina Reimers of Portland in two sets, 6-2, 6-2 to complete singles play Sunday morning.
The Vandals concluded the WSU Invitational with a 7-5 singles record. Despite the success in singles play, the team had more difficulty establishing an offensive rhythm in doubles play, as two Vandal duos combined for a 6-6 tournament record.
The Vandals’ doubles team of Yang and Badillos lost its opening match in the Gray Doubles Flight against WSU opponents Biryokova and Monahan by a score of 3-6, but the duo quickly recovered and won their next three matches against opponents from both Oregon and Portland.
They were then met with stiff opposition from the alternate WSU duo in the flight, losing to Michalkova and Miksovska 2-6 Saturday afternoon.
The pair concluded the tournament with a 6-1 win over Portland duo Dhatt and Gould.
In the Crimson Doubles Flight, the Vandal duo of Tavares and Batiri emerged victorious in only one of their first five matches, with their lone victory coming Friday morning against Dimitrov and Troesch of Portland by a score of 7-5.
Tavares and Batiri faced several pairs of talented opponents during the WSU Invitational, including the Johnson and Kluiving duo of Oregon that peaked at No. 26 in the ITA preseason rankings.
Tavares and Batiri also ended doubles play Sunday on a positive note with a 6-4 victory over the Portland duo of Lazarevic and Grigoryan.
As a whole, the Idaho women’s tennis program showed flashes of brilliance against several Pac-12 powers and remained competitive throughout the entirety of the tournament.
The team will prepare for its upcoming trip to Las Vegas for the ITA Regional tournament Oct. 14-18.
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected]