BERKELEY, Calif. – The Eastern Washington Women's tennis team started their 2024 fall season this past weekend at the ITA Northwest Regional. 

The tournament featured a main draw of 112 different players. The tournament included women's open singles, and women's open doubles. Eastern Freshman Zoe Pradel and Sara Vasic competed in their first collegiate events, with Pradel earning her first collegiate singles win. 

"I thought there were a lot of instances where we did well and were able to learn and build on our success and use that as we progress through the fall season and of course, as we move into the team dual match season in January. I think we've been working hard on our fitness level, and we are still going to continue working on that, but you saw some strong things there, and only helps us be able to finish out matches. Overall I am definitely pleased with that," head coach Dustin Hinson said.
Eastern collected seven total singles wins in the tournament, and saw senior Kelly Arends and junior Leandra Nizetic earn a doubles win on Friday. 

"I thought this was a great start to our fall season. I really like the dynamic of this team this year so far. The team is super supportive. They are great on and off the court together, which is a real priority for me and I think that just helps them be the best they can be on the court when they're a super supportive family type team which I love," Hinson said. 

Senior captain Kenzington Mann delivered a great performance on Friday, winning both of her singles matches to qualify for the main draw. 

"Kenzington Mann played really well on Friday. She beat a tough St. Mary's opponent, and had a pretty dominant performance in the first round. The second round of qualifying she played a really tough and long three set match, against a tough player from University of the Pacific," Hinson said. "Ken really stepped up in those tight moments and figured out a way to win those games and I was super impressed how she was able to stay calm, which she has always done a great job with. It is important on the court and just carries yourself with good energy and she worked hard all the way through to get that win, so happy with her performance for sure." 

2024 Eastern Washington Women's Tennis
ITA Northwest Regional Championships 
Hellman Tennis Complex - Berkeley, California

Friday Women's Open Singles
R(64): Maya Youssef (UCD) def. Leandra Nizetic (EWU) 6-1, 6-2
R(64): Madhumitha Satishbabu (WSU) def. Zoe Pradel (EWU) 6-2, 6-2
R(64): Rose Hayes (GU) def. Sara Vasic (EWU) 6-1, 6-2
R(64): Kenzington Mann (EWU) def. Madison Weekley (SMU) 6-3, 6-2
R(64): Anait Arutiunian (EWU) def. Daria Nazarenko (SU) 6-4, 6-2
R(32): Kenzington Mann (EWU) def. Milena Mayorova (PAC) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4

Saturday Women's Open Singles
R(64): Mika Ikemori (UCD) def. Isabella Foshee (EWU) 7(7)-6(2), 1-6, 6-2
R(64): Lan Mi (CAL) def. Kenzington Mann (EWU) 6-1, 6-0
Consolation-R(32)-Qualifying: Leandra Nizetic (EWU) def. Kylie Canubida (POR) 6-2, 6-1
Consolation-R(32)-Qualifying: Weronika Ejsmont (SAC) def. Zoe Pradel (EWU)
Consolation-R(32)-Qualifying: Polina Marakhtanova (UCD) def. Sara Vasic (EWU) 6-1, 6-0

Sunday Women's Open Singles
R(64): Leandra Nizetic (EWU) def. Daria Nazarenko (SU) 6-4, 6-2
R(64): Kylie Canubida (POR) def. Sara Vasic (EWU) 6(6)-7(8), 6-1 [10]-[1]
R(64): Zoe Pradel (EWU) def. Mina Yazadzhiev (SU) 6-3, 7-5
Consolation-R(32)-Qualifying: Isabella Foshee (EWU) def. Maya Youssef (UCD) 3-6, 6-4 [13]-[11]

Friday Women's Open Doubles
R(64): Martina Puvill/Madhumitha Satishbabu (WSU) def. Sara Vasic/Zoe Pradel (EWU) 8-1
R(64): Duru Durgunl/Emma Fantusis (SJSU) def. Isabella Foshsee/Anait Arutiunian (EWU) 8-4
R(64): Madeleine Page/Polina Marakhtanova (UCD) def. Kenzington Mann/Olivia Marais (EWU) 8-5
R(64): Kelly Arends/Leandra Nizetic (EWU) def. Marjorie Souza/Julia Visaya (UO) 8-6

Saturday Women's Open Doubles
R(32): Lan Mi/Sophie Hernandez (CAL) def. Kelly Arends/Leandra Nizetic (EWU)  8-6
Consolation-R(16): Maya Youssef/Sophia Sappa (UCD) def. Sara Vasic/Zoe Pradel (EWU) 6-2
Consolation: Indiya Mcleod/Nahreeen Cheam (PAC) def. Isabella Foshee/Kenzington Mann 7(7)-6(4)

"We had some great wins and some good performances. The main thing we look forward to on these events early in the season is how they compete under stressful situations when things are tight and when things are close. Are you able to dig deep or be able to kind of find what's gonna work in those situations and how you can learn from those," Hinson said.

Up Next
Eastern Washington will travel to Spokane, Washington to play in the Gonzaga Invitational on Friday, October 25 - Sunday, October 27 in its second tournament of the 2024 fall season.
 

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ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.

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