BERKELEY, Calif. — Freshman Yana Gurevich reached the gold draw consolation final to lead the UC Davis women's tennis team at the Cal Fall Invitational, opening the fall tournament season.
In Berkeley, overnight rain delayed the start of Friday's action, and resulted in only one round of main draw singles and doubles being completed, as the singles second round and all consolation matches were postponed to Saturday.
In her debut as an Aggie, freshman Lauren Ko recorded her first collegiate wins on Friday, as she finished the day with a doubles and singles win. Ko partnered with junior Sara Tsukamoto in the tournament's top draw, and defeated a Nevada duo in a dominant 8-1 result. Advancing through the draw, the pair upset the top-seeded Danielle McIntyre and Mariia Kozyreva from St. Mary's, 8-6, before falling to fourth-seeded Cal in the semifinals.
In the gold draw, seniors Kristina Breisacher and Nikita Pradeep upset the first seed, Caitlyn Frankel and Jamie Schroer (SCU), with an 8-4 first round win, and continued to roll through the quarterfinals. The Aggie tandem defeated Gonzaga's Haruna Tsuruta and Katie Ketels 8-3, before falling to a San Diego team in the semis.
In singles play, Pradeep and Tsukamoto were in the top draw, but both fell in tough first round matches. Tsukamoto made her way through the consolation bracket, defeating Santa Clara's Elvena Gevargiz in straight sets, before meeting Big West Conference foe and fourth-seeded Amit Lev-Ari in the quarterfinals. In a rematch of the 2019 season's dual result where Lev-Ari won the battle in two sets, this time it was Tsukamoto coming out on top, with a 7-5, 6-4 win. Tsukamoto went on to pull out of the semifinal due to injury.
Breisacher breezed through #4 Alexis Nelson (Cal) 6-2, 6-4 in her opening round of the gold draw, and won a close battle with BYU's Emilee Astle, 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(6) to reach the main draw quarterfinal. Breisacher would retire the match due to injury. Also competing in the gold draw, Shirley Hall earned the bracket's second seed, and advanced through her opening round before falling to McIntyre 7-5, 7-6(6). Freshman Kristina Evloeva split sets in her first round, but retired the match due to injury.
With the best run of the tourney, Gurevich dropped her opening round match to the eventual runner-up Catherine Broerman (Gonzaga), but advanced through to the gold draw consolation final. Gurevich posted three-set wins over Katya Tabachnik (SCU) and Nelson (Cal), and faced off against Chiho Mushika (USF) in the final, taking the first set, 6-2. The pair battled on, and Mushika barely claimed the upper hand, winning the second set in a tiebreaker, and the third set super-tiebreak 11-9.
Ko led the Aggies through the white singles draw, winning her opening match over Kate Day (Gonzaga) 6-0, 6-3, but was forced to retire in the next round due to injury.
The Aggies will be back in action next weekend, Oct. 4-6, at the St. Mary's Fall Invitational in Moraga, Calif.
CAL FALL INVITATIONAL RESULTS
UC Davis only
Women's Blue Doubles
Round of 16
Sara Tsukamoto/Lauren Ko (UCD) def. Anast.Gorbacheva/Anastasia Luneva (NEV) 8-1
Quarterfinals
Sara Tsukamoto/Lauren Ko (UCD) def. (1) Danielle McIntyre/Mariia Kozyreva (SMC) 8-6
Semifinals
(4) Anna Bright/Erin Richardson (CAL) def. Sara Tsukamoto/Lauren Ko (UCD) 8-5
Women's Gold Doubles
Round of 16
Kristina Breisacher/Nikita Pradeep (UCD) def. (1) Caitlyn Frankel/Jamie Schroer (SCU) 8-4
Quarterfinals
Kristina Breisacher/Nikita Pradeep (UCD) def. Haruna Tsuruta/Katie Ketels (GON) 8-3
Semifinals
Gemma Garcia/Helena Francati (USD) def. Kristina Breisacher/Nikita Pradeep (UCD) 8-2
Women's White Doubles
Round of 16
Madeline Almeida/Morgan Hall (BYU) def. Jessica Walker/Kristina Evloeva (UCD) ret.
Katie Cusick/Leah Heimuli (BYU) def. Shirley Hall/Yana Gurevich (UCD) 8-2
Women's White Doubles Consolation
Round 1
Lindsey Pesqueria/Nadine Del Carmen (SCU) def. Shirley Hall/Yana Gurevich (UCD) 8-6
Women's Blue Singles
Round of 32
Haruna Tsuruta (GON) def. Nikita Pradeep (UCD) 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5)
(8) Haley Giavara (CAL) def. Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) 6-2, 7-6(6)
Women's Blue Singles Consolation
Round 1
(8) Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) def. Nikita Pradeep (UCD) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0(8)
Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) def. Elvena Gevargiz (SCU) 6-4, 6-2
Quarterfinals
Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) def. (4) Amit Lev-Ari (UCSB) 7-5, 6-4
Semifinals
Jamie Schroer (SCU) def. Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) Wo - inj.
Women's Gold Singles
Round of 32
Caitlyn Frankel (SCU) def. Kristina Evloeva (UCD) 6-4, 3-6, ret.
Kristina Breisacher (UCD) def. (3) Alexis Nelson (CAL) 6-2, 6-4
Catherine Broerman (GON) def. Yana Gurevich (UCD) 7-6(7), 6-3
(2) Shirley Hall (UCD) def. Leah Heimuli (BYU) 6-2, 6-0
Round of 16
Kristina Breisacher (UCD) def. Emilee Astle (BYU) 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(6)
Danielle McIntyre (SMC) def. (2) Shirley Hall (UCD) 7-5, 7-6(6)
Quarterfinals
Jessica Zeynel (CAL) def. Kristina Breisacher (UCD) Wo - inj.
Women's Gold Singles Consolation
Round 1
Taylor Gruber (GON) def. Kristina Evloeva (UCD) Wd - inj.
Yana Gurevich (UCD) def. Katya Tabachnik (SCU) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(9)
Quarterfinals
Yana Gurevich (UCD) def. Leah Heimuli (BYU) Def - ns
Semifinals
Yana Gurevich (UCD) def. (3) Alexis Nelson (CAL) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0(10)
Finals
Chiho Mushika (USF) def. Yana Gurevich (UCD) 2-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(9)
Women's White Singles
Round of 32
Hannah Ketchrside (PAC) def. Skyler Holm (UCD) 6-3, 6-2
(4) Lauren Ko (UCD) def. Kate Day (GON) 6-0, 6-3
Emma Jewell (BYU) def. Jessica Walker (UCD) Wd - inj.
Round of 16
Helena Francati (USD) def. (4) Lauren Ko (UCD) Wo - inj.
Women's White Singles Consolation
Round 1
Morgan Hall (BYU) def. Skyler Holm (UCD) Wo - inj.
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Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year.
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