WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Marianna Petrei's magical season came to a close in the round of the 32 at the NCAA Singles Championship on Thursday. The Idaho junior fell, 6-2, 6-4, to the seventh-seeded Ena Shibahara of UCLA at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

"It has been a fantastic year," head coach Babar Akbar noted. "It started with some fantastic results in both singles and doubles in the fall and carried it over into conference play. We had a fantastic year on its own but winning the first round of the NCAA's [on Wednesday] was a great end to our season."

The Idaho standout went to battle against the No. 9 player in the country in Shibahara. The UCLA sophomore is no stranger to the national scene. The 2017 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year advanced to the round of 16 last season at the NCAA Singles Championships and qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championships as well. 

"Marianna had some good chances today," Akbar explained. "I think it was an instance where she [Shibahara] had more experience in this situation. Marianna proved she belonged here this week."

Shibahara came out strong in the first set to take a 1-0 advantage. Petrei recovered well in the second set, breaking serve to open. She got out to a 3-0 lead in the second, pushing Shibahara back on her heels. Both sides broke serve in the next two games, giving Petrei a 4-1 advantage. Shibahara went on to win the final five games to clinch the match.

Petrei, ranked 31st in the country, finishes the season with a tied for third in Idaho single-season history with 27 wins. She became the first Vandal to play in the NCAA Singles Championship and advanced to the round of 32 with her three-set win over No. 37 Laura Proctor in Wednesday's first round.