WU FALL INVITATIONAL: Bruins Win Five Matches in Season-Opening Willamette
SALEM, Ore. - Freshman Megan Dahlberg went 2-1 in singles while veterans Shaina Inn and Bethany Nguyen also went 2-1 as a doubles team, highlighting George Fox University performances in the Willamette University Fall Invitational Women’s Tennis Tournament held this past Saturday and Sunday at the Willamette Tennis Courts.
The tournament was divided into flights for both singles and doubles, with four singles players or four doubles teams in each group. Each player or team then played the other three in a round-robin to determine the champion of each flight. In addition to George Fox and Willamette, players from Linfield College and Pacific University also participated.
Dahlberg competed in Flight #6, defeating Kelsey Lack of Pacific 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4) in her first college match. She fell 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-5) to Katie Krieger of Linfield, but bounced back with a 6-3, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7) win over Mandy Carlson of Willamette.
Inn and Nguyen were in Flight #2 for doubles and won their first two matches, 8-1 over Elise Derby and Emily Funabiki of Williamette and 8-6 over Samantha Nady and Lack of Pacific. They nearly made it three straight but were edged 9-8 (7-5) by Kwynn Ecton and Kelly Watanabe of Linfield.
The Bruins’ only other win came when Nguyen defeated Funabiki 6-4, 6-4 in her final singles match in Flight #3. She had dropped her first two, 6-2, 6-1 to Nady and 6-2, 6-1 to Ecton.
In singles Flight #1, Alyssa Emoto fell 6-2, 6-1 to Caroline Brigham of Linfield, 6-2, 6-1 to Denise Poltavski of Willamette, and 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 to Synclaire Waldron of Pacific.
In Flight #2, Inn lost 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4) to Rachel Heringer of Willamette, 6-4, 7-5 to Rachel Mizuno of Pacific, and 6-3, 6-3 to Lexi Thomas of Linfield.
In Flight #4, Bruin newcomer Aleassa Wren dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Watanabe, fell 6-2, 6-4 to Francesca Battaglia of Pacific, and was edged by Derby 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9).
In Flight #5, another George Fox rookie, Jessica Moss, was defeated by Stephanie Matsuura of Willamette 6-4, 6-0, by Gretchen Jernstedt of Linfield 6-0, 6-0, and by Carlee Rhodaback of Pacific 6-0, 6-2.
Emoto and Wren teamed up for the Bruins in doubles Flight #1, falling to Linfield’s Brigham and Thomas 8-2, to Willamette’s Heringer and Poltavski 8-2, and to Pacific’s Mizuno and Waldron 8-2.
In Flight #3, Dahlberg and Moss were ousted by Pacific’s Battaglia and Rhodaback 8-6, by Linfield’s Jernstedt and Krieger 8-2, and by Willamette’s Matsuura and Carlson 8-6.
Overall, the Bruins posted a 5-22 record, going 3-15 in singles and 2-7 in doubles.
“It was a good opportunity for us, especially for our newcomers who all got to play and find out what college tennis is like,” observed George Fox head coach Rick Cruz. “Our No. 1 player, Molly Beaumont, was unable to play due to student teaching, and a couple of our regulars were held back due to injuries, so everyone else had to move up and play against better competition than they would usually be matched with. Because of that, we didn’t win as many matches as we might have otherwise, but that kind of experience can only make us stronger for the regular season.”
NEXT: The Bruins will participate in the United States Tennis Association / Intercollegiate Tennis Association NCAA Division III Fall Regional Tournament Saturday-Monday, Sept. 22-24, at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash.