The Utah women’s tennis team had a dominating performance over the weekend, as the Utes took down No. 60 Oregon Friday night and on Sunday won their doubleheader, upsetting No. 46 Washington, and then beating Weber State later that day.
When they faced the Ducks, the Utes won 5-2 with strong performances from No. 53 Tereza Bekerova, who won 6-2, 6-2 against Oregon’s Nia Rose, and then Alexia Petrovic, who won her match 6-0, 6-2 against Sofia Hager.
The wins give the team four straight wins in Salt Lake City. Head coach Mat Iandolo said being at home will help more when the new outdoor tennis facility is ready to compete in, instead of playing at Coach Mike’s Tennis Academy. He also mentioned the team still has things to work on after the close 4-3 win over Washington.
“I thought it was a hard-fought match,” Iandolo said. “I felt like overall we held our composure pretty well, but not perfectly. I’m glad we won, but we still have a lot of things we need to work on.”
Against Washington, Sarah Richter had a tough match against Miki Kobayashi, which went to three sets. After winning the first set and losing the second one, she felt discouraged but was able to gain her momentum back.
“I feel really good,” Richter said. “After losing the second, I was like, ‘Oh, I hope I can pull it off.’ I am really happy how it ended because I wasn’t sure if it was a deciding match or not, but then in the end I figured it out, and it makes me feel even better.”
After Richter secured the win for the Utes, her teammates stormed the court to congratulate her. Richter is happy to see their efforts pay off.
“It’s great for us [to get wins against ranked opponents]. We really needed it. I think we deserve it after the hard work we put in, and it’s awesome,” Richter said.
Iandolo mentioned the team is stepping on the right foot by earning the doubles point early on, something they were able to accomplish in all three of their matches.
“We are going to focus on playing good aggressive doubles and getting out and making it our match early,” Iandolo said.
Iandolo said he is most impressed with how Bekerova and Richter played in their singles matches and he was also satisfied with the doubles performances against Washington. However, he mentions other aspects on the court will need to improve.
“It’s always great to get a Pac-12 win and kind of in dramatic fashion,” Iandolo said. “Just pleased to get the win, but we can learn a lot, too, because I don’t think we competed great at every position.”
Bekerova thought everyone helped the team earn their three wins.
“It was a great win, and I’m happy for the whole team,” Bekerova said. “Everyone contributed with their part and I’m happy.”
Bekerova won her match in two sets against Washington, winning the second one 6-0 and said this is something she hopes to continue throughout the season in addition to being consistent.
“I played pretty well, I felt good today,” Bekerova said. “[I need to keep] hitting the ball best I can and being focused, so it doesn’t take longer than it needs to take.”
Richter sat out against Weber State, but the team did fine without her and won 7-0. However, she said in practice she will have to work on a couple of aspects of her play.
“I will work on my second serve and I my net play,” Richter said.
This weekend, the Utes continue their homestretch and will face Washington State on Friday at 1:30 p.m. MT.
@kbrenneisen