Over the weekend, the Utah women’s tennis team competed at the Pac-12 Championships at the Ojai Valley Athletic Club in California. As the second day of competition rolled around, the Utes’ time at the championships came to an end, as the duo of sophomore Margo Pletcher and freshman Brianna Turley — the only remaining Utes in the field — fell to Arizona State’s duo of Alexandra Osborne and Ebony Panoho.
“Overall, I would say it was pretty good,” said head coach Mat Iandolo. “I wouldn’t say it was exceptional, but it was pretty good.”
The highlight of the tournament for Utah was easily the upset Fletcher and Turley pulled over Cal’s duo of Maegan Manasse and Denise Starr, the second-best doubles group in the nation. It was hard-fought, but the pair made it look easy with a 6-3 victory over their Golden Bear counterparts.
“I am really proud of Margo and Brianna for that win,” Iandolo said. “Certainly, they have been close with a lot of great teams this year so that was a great win. I think them being a freshman and sophomore pair playing together, it will go well for the future.”
But, as they advanced to quarterfinals, Pletcher and Turley fell short, taking a 7-5 defeat against Arizona State.
“Unfortunately, we lost in a tight match against them, but overall, I think maybe we struggled a little bit; maybe we could have done a little bit better,” Pletcher said. “But, I’m still really happy with how we did. I think we will do almost twice as well as we did this year.”
On the first day of competition, sophomore Jena Cheng competed In the women’s Invitational bracket. She managed to win the first set against Stanford’s Caroline Lampl, but ended up losing the next two sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-4) to finish with the loss.
Freshman Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa, sophomore Alexia Petrovic and freshman Taylor Calton competed in the invitational bracket alongside Cheng, falling in their respective matches.
After earning byes to advance to the round of 32, Turley and senior Sarah Richter lost decisions against Arizona State players, falling 6-0, 6-0, and 6-1, 6-1, respectively.
Pletcher was the only player to advance to the round of 16 in singles play. In her first match of the day for the round of 32, Pletcher defeated Colorado in a 6-4, 6-2 decision, advancing to the round of 16. Unfortunately, she fell short in the next round, taking the defeat from Arizona’s Lauren Marker in a 7-5, 6-1 decision.
“I was happy I got my first round win over Colorado and had another close match against Arizona,” Pletcher said. “It was never an easy match in either of the draws with Pac-12 being the hardest conference for tennis, but personally, I think it went pretty well.”
On the second day of competition, Petrovic and Richter competed in the first round of the Invitational Doubles tournament. The duo earned a bye in the first round to face UCLA in the second, but fell short in a 6-3 decision. Calton and Gerstner Da Rosa competed in doubles play, as well, taking their defeat against an ASU duo in a 6-4 verdict.
As Pletcher and her team prepare themselves for next season, Iandolo holds high goals for his team, hoping to take the next step.
“We had five freshmen and sophomores this year, so if we use the experience from this year to make us better, I think we can be top 25 in the country next season,” Iandolo said. “Certainly, that’s what we are shooting for.”
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