Women's Tennis | 10/11/2016
MOSCOW, Idaho—A crazy week for Idaho women's tennis gets underway on Wednesday. The team opens up the fall season at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Mountain Regionals in Albuquerque, N.M.
Marianna Petrei, the 2016 Big Sky MVP, will represent the conference at the Oracle/ITA Masters Tournament in Malibu, Calif., starting on Thursday.
Idaho, the reigning 2016 Big Sky champions, returns five players from a year ago.
Claire Yang,
Lucia Badillos and
Ana Batiri lead the Vandals as the lone upperclassmen on the roster. Petrei, a sophomore, is joined by
Maria Tavares for their second season. Freshman
Shion Watabe begins her Idaho career, while Jessica Brazozowska will join the team in the spring.
Idaho finished 2016 ranked 10th in the Mountain Region. Petrei closed the season as the 18th ranked player in the region. The Vandals advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season, having defeated Northern Arizona in the title match.
Petrei earned a spot in the tournament field with an 11-0 record in Big Sky play last season. She finished 22-3 overall in singles play, playing exclusively out of the No. 1 position. She set an Idaho single-season record with a .880 winning percentage.
The Oracle/ITA Masters Tournament format consists of a double elimination 32-player men's singles draw, a double elimination 32-player women's singles draw, and a single elimination 32-team mixed doubles draw. Each mixed doubles team will be comprised of the men's player and women's player from each conference, with wild card players paired together or with conference players who do not have a counterpart.
Stay up-to-date on all things Idaho women's tennis by following the team on Twitter @IdahoWTennis.
