After her team fell in the first round of the NCAA women’s tennis tournament, Marianna Petrei took matters into her own hands.
The Vandal junior became the first Idaho player to earn a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship. Petrei entered the competition ranked No. 31 by the Intercollege Tennis Association, playing in her first match May 23.
Petrei won her first match in the Round of 64 against Winthrop’s Laura Proctor, but fell to UCLA’s Ena Shibahara.
The opening match offered a back-and-forth battle between Petrei and Winthrop, with the winner being named after a third tie-breaking set. Petrei emerged victorious in the first, 6-4, but dropped the second after Proctor swept the Italian native 6-0.
Petrei rallied from the tough loss, coming back from a 2-1 game deficit in the final set. She stormed to a 6-2 win, clinching her first NCAA victory.
“Our goal was to stay with her in the third set,” said Idaho head coach Babar Akbar in a news release. “Marianna did a fantastic job of staying with her. She just kept fighting and did not let that second set get to her. She played really well and got more aggressive. It says a lot about her ability to compete.”
After an exciting win in the first round, Petrei faced a much steeper hill to climb in the Round of 32. Seventh-seeded Shibahara flew past Petrei in two sets 6-2, 6-4.
After an early deficit in the first set, Petrei battled back, securing a 3-0 in the second. However, once it looked like a possible comeback was in the works, Shibahara shot back into the lead, winning the final five games.
Petrei finished her third season as a Vandal tied for the third most wins in a single season with 27.
“It has been a fantastic year,” Babar said in a news release. “It started with some fantastic results in both singles and doubles in the fall and carried it over into conference play. We had a fantastic year on its own but winning the first round of the NCAA’s was a great end to our season.”
Petrei will be one of two seniors during Idaho’s next season, along with current junior Maria Tavares. The Vandals will be searching for their fourth consecutive Big Sky title next spring. Idaho has won five conference championships in the last five years, including the team’s final season in the Western Athletic Conference in 2013.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @brandonmtnhill