With gloomy skies bearing over Moscow and a possibility of rain, the Idaho women’s tennis team skipped playing outside and instead went to Lewiston.
Safe from the weather, the Vandals defeated Seattle University 7-0.
The women returned to the court after two and a half weeks, but took zero time warming up to their game.
Idaho opened with strong doubles play. Sophomore Maria Tavares and junior Ana Batiri earned the first point against Barbara Carey and Kali McCollister. The duo won 6-1 on court No. 2.
Sophomore Marianna Petrei and junior Lucia Badillos came away with a 6-2 win on court No. 1 against Michelle Lui and Madison Maloney. The pair proved to be a deadly combination yet again for the Vandals. Petrei and Badillos have won 10 matches from the No. 1 doubles position.
Freshman Jessica Brzozowska and senior Claire Yang completed the doubles sweep after defeating Kailyn Skjonsby and Caroline Maltby 6-4.
Idaho maintained the intensity into doubles play, again taking every match.
Brzozowska earned her second victory of the day, besting Maloney on the second court 6-0, 6-1.
Tavares had a close scrape with Maltby on court No. 4. The first set went into extended games, and Tavares eventually came out on top 7-5. She used that momentum heading into the second, winning 6-1.
Badillos and Carey battled it out on court No. 3. Carey won the first set of the day for Seattle 6-3. Badillos rebounded to win the second set 6-2. During the tiebreaker, Badillos fended off Carey and went on to win 6-3.
Petrei continued her reign of dominance at the No. 1 singles position. It looked grim for Petrei in the beginning after she dropped the first set to Lui 6-2. In the second set, Petrei notched a 6-3 victory. She improved on her performance in the third, winning 6-2.
The opening loss in the first set was just the fourth for Petrei, who has proved herself to be one of the top players in the Big Sky Conference.
Batiri defeated McCollister 6-3, 6-1 on court No. 5. Yang followed up with a 7-5, 6-3 win on the final court.
Idaho (9-5, 4-0 BSC) climbs to third in the Big Sky. The Vandals are one of three teams with a perfect conference record.
Conference play will continue for the Silver and Gold Saturday. The Vandals will take on Sacramento State at home. The Hornets, (8-10, 6-2 BSC) sit one spot behind Idaho in the Big Sky conference standings. The women will begin play on the Memorial Gym courts 10 a.m., weather permitting.
Brandon Hill
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