MALIBU, Calif.—Sophomore
Marianna Petrei represented Idaho and the Big Sky at the elite Oracle/ITA Masters Tournament this past weekend at Pepperdine. Petrei earned the invite to the tournament after going 11-0 in conference play as a freshman, being named the Big Sky MVP.
The tournament kicked off in a big way for Petrei. She teamed with Portland State's Nathan Boniel in mixed doubles, the men's Big Sky MVP. The duo pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the field, defeating Cal's Denise Starr and Southern California's Nick Crystal, 6-3. Both Starr and Carr entered the tournament highly ranked in both of the ITA singles and doubles polls.
"It was a great win for her and Boniel to start," head coach
Abid Akbar commented. "A Big Sky team getting a win against a team from the Pac-12 was a big upset. It was great to see the team compete at such a high level."
Petrei and Boniel almost pulled off another upset in the second round. The pair faced Pepperdine's Guilherme Hadlich and Luisa Stefani, taking the match to a tiebreaker before falling 7-6(4). Stefani, came into the matched ranked No. 2 in singles play and No. 6 in doubles. Hadlich was also ranked I both singles and doubles.
Petrei continued in the tournament playing in the singles draw. She fell in her opening match, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, to the No. 64 player in the country, Tulsa's Ksenia Laskutova. Petrei won the first set with a clean card, 6-0, and held a two-point game lead in the second set.
"In singles she played one of the best matches I have seen her play," Akbar continued. "She was up 6-0, 3-1 against the No. 1 girl from Tulsa. Marianna outplayed her for the first set and a half. She had her opportunities in the final set."
The sophomore came back in the singles backdraw to earn a win over Quinnipiac's Sitilia Rencheli, 6-0, 6-1. Her tournament came to an end against Abilene Christian's Lucile Pothier in three-sets, 6-2, 2-6, 3-6.
"Considering this was her first tournament of the season I was really proud of how she competed," Akbar explained. "She was able to play at a high level this weekend. It was a great weekend. She got some great exposure to some of the top tennis in the country."
Stay up-to-date on all things Idaho women's tennis by following the team on Twitter @IdahoWTennis.
