Oct. 15, 2012
MORAGA, Calif. - Melissa Kobayakawa's 2012-13 debut ended in strong fashion as the Aggie junior won ITA Blue Singles division as the women's tennis team finished action at the Saint Mary's Invitational in Moraga.
Kobayakawa posted two wins on Saturday to advance to Sunday's final, topping Sacramento State's Saskia Angerer in the quarterfinals before picking up a semifinals win over fellow Hornet Siobhan Ryan-Bovey later that day. She easily handled Angerer in a 6-1, 6-3 straight set victory before taking down Ryan-Bovey in similar fashion with a 6-2, 6-3 decision.
She went on to face Washington's Brianna Kemp in Sunday's championship, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory to win the division title.
Zoe Davidson advanced to the Blue Singles consolation finals after moving quickly through the bracket. She advanced into the semifinals after her opponent, Cal Poly's Haley Kepler, withdrew due to injury, then punched her ticket to the finals with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Sacramento State's Chyna Brown.
In the consolation finals, Davidson faced Melissa Arthur of Saint Mary's who claimed the first set 6-3. Davidson nearly rallied in the second set, but fell just short with a 7-5 loss.
In other singles action, Megan Heneghan advanced to the ITA Red Singles round of 16 on Saturday, but fell 6-2, 6-4 to Danielle Flores of Saint Mary's. Layla Sanders also advanced to the round of 16 in the ITA White Singles bracket, but lost a 7-6(6), 6-2 decision to San Francisco's Melinda Akerbrandt.
Freshman Tiffany Pham paired with Ellie Edles in the ITA White Doubles bracket to reach the consolation finals in her UC Davis debut. The pair topped Washington's Kemp and Sarah Steele 8-4 in the consolation quarterfinals, then posted a second 8-4 victory in the semifinals after topping USF's Blair Reed and Brooke Irish.
In the consolation finals, Edles and Pham were narrowly edged by Ane McPike and Sophia Bott of Cal Poly, the White Doubles division's top-seeded duo, after the Mustang pair claimed an 8-6 victory on Sunday.
Sanders and Heneghan reached the consolation finals of the Red Doubles bracket after defeating San Francisco's Milica Hadzi-Tanovic and Sofia Holmberg 8-4. They took Sacramento State's Jennifer Nguyen and Katharina Knoebl to the edge in the semifinal match, dropping a thrilling 9-8(4) tiebreaker decision to the Hornet duo.
The UC Davis women's tennis team continues fall action at the ITA Regional Oct. 19-23 at Stanford.
SAINT MARY'S INVITATIONAL
Moraga, Calif.
UC Davis results only
ITA White Singles
Round of 16
Melinda Akerbrandt (USF) def. Layla Sanders (UCD), 7-6(6), 6-2
Consolation Round 1
Julija Lukac (UW) def. Lauren Curry, UCD, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0(9)
Yurie Hashiguchi (USF) def. Ellie Edles, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0(3)
ITA Blue Singles
Semifinals
Melissa Kobayakawa (UCD) def. Siobhan Ryan-Bovey (SAC), 6-2, 6-3
Finals
Melissa Kobayakawa (UCD) def. Brianna Kemp (UW), 6-2, 6-1
Consolation Quarterfinals
Zoe Davidson (UCD) def. Haley Kepler (CP), withdraw (inj.)
Consolation Semifinals
Zoe Davidson (UCD) def. Chyna Brown (SAC), 6-4, 6-3
Consolation Finals
Melissa Arthur (SMC) def. Zoe Davidson (UCD), 6-3, 7-5
Round Robin Singles
Claire Jaramishian (UCD) def. Olivia Boija (SAC), 3-6, 6-4, 1-0(8)
ITA Red Doubles
Consolation Semifinals
Jennifer Nguyen-Katharina Knoebl (SAC) def. Layla Sanders-Megan Heneghan (UCD), 9-8(4)
