Cowgirl tennis competes at BYU

PROVO, Utah — The Wyoming Cowgirl tennis team wrapped up its first tournament of the season Friday at the BYU Invitational.

“We played some very close matches today,” said head coach Kati Gyulai. “It is always disappointing to lose matches in the third set or in tie-break but we have a long season ahead of us. We are anxious to come home and to continue working harder to prepare for the spring.”

In singles play of the backdraw, newcomer Kim van Ginkel went 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Taylor Perry (USU) and won by default over teammate Sarah Summerfield. Freshman Alexandra Kovacs earned wins over Hailey Swenson (USU), 6-3, 6-3, and Tori Arneson (CSU), 6-1, 6-1. She will play teammate Kim van Ginkel in the semis. Rebecca Berger toughed out a three set win, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, over Jaclyn West of Utah State, but was defeated in her second match of the day, 6-3, 6-3, by Romina Nedkovic of BYU. Summerfield defeated her first opponent of the day, Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) in three sets as well, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5. She withdrew from her match against teammate Ginkel. In her first round match of the back draw, Carly Van Hollen came up short, 6-1, 6-3 against Kristina Voytsekhovich (USU).

In Category B singles play, both Paloma Navarro and Saša Nemcová were defeated in their semi-final matches. Navarro lost to Aubrey Paul of BYU, 7-6, 7-5, while Nemcova was defeated in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

In doubles play, it was a tough day for the last two teams left in the draw. Navarro and Van Hollen fell to Erin Monson and Andrea Maughan (Utah), 8-7 (5), as did Nemcová and van Ginkel, 8-3, to Christian Doerr and Romina Nedakovic (BYU).

The Cowgirls will host the UniWyo Cowgirl Invite on Sept. 26-27.