LEWISTON, Idaho — The road trip was short for Eastern Washington women's tennis and the team took advantage on Saturday afternoon to get their first win of the season. Eastern defeated Lewis-Clark State College, 6-1, and improved to 1-1 this season.

"This was a great, but tough match today. LC State is always very tough and it's good to face these kinds of opponents because we want to face obstacles and see how we can push through them," head coach Dustin Hinson said. "We had our backs against the wall in a few different matches, including early on in doubles. Coming back from a deficit at number three doubles to get the win from a set down. At number four singles, it was huge for Zoe [Pradel] to come back."

Anait Arutiunian and Sara Vasic started strong in doubles with a 6-0 win over Ana Govea and Carisa Liebenberg. The duos of Zoe Pradel and Olivia Marais, along with Leandra Nizetic and Maria Lopez won their matches 7-5 to sweep the doubles round and go up 1-0 against the Warriors. 

Eastern won the first three singles matches to secure the match win for Eastern. Anait Arutiunian (6-2, 6-4), Leandra Nizetic (6-1, 6-0), and Veronika Gayevyk (6-4, 6-4) all earned victories to clinch the match. 

"We had other matches in singles that were close, tough battles. That's what we need at this time of year. It helps us build some belief and confidence, so I'm very proud of the team," Hinson explained. "We had good fighting energy the whole way through. Good effort, integrity, and respect for the opponents, along with respect for the game, overall, is important. I'm very pleased with the result today and we'll keep building for the next match." 

Results
Singles
No. 1 Anait Arutiunian (EWU) def. Cheludo Monnayoo (LC State) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Leandra Nizetic (EWU) def. Rayana Shah (LC State) 6-1, 6-0
No. 3 Veronika Gayevyk (EWU) def. Gwyn Heim (LC State) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Zoe Pradel (EWU) def. Naiara Montero (LC State) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 Aneliss Zamfirescu (EWU) def. Ana Govea (LC State) 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 Carisa Liebenberg (LC State) def. Maria Lopez (EWU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5

Doubles
No. 1 Olivia Marais / Zoe Pradel (EWU) def. Rylie Gettmann / Cheludo Monnayoo (LC State) 7-5
No. 2 Anait Arutiunian / Sara Vasic (EWU) def. Ana Gova / Carisa Liebenberg (LC State) 6-0
No. 3 Maria Lopez / Leandra Nizetic (EWU) def. Sonam Dorji / Rayana Shah (LC State) 7-5

Up Next
Eastern Washington gets to stay close to home next week with two matches. The Eagles play Colorado State on Friday (Jan. 30) at the Stevens Center in Spokane, with first serve at 4 p.m. EWU then travels south to Pullman to play Fresno State on Washington State's courts. 
 

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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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