In a strange twist to the Long Beach State women’s tennis team’s fall season, the 49ers can claim victory at the Fullerton Invitational. But, there’s still one day left to play.
The Beach dominated its competition on Saturday to set up an all-LBSU semifinal and final in both singles and doubles at the three-day tournament.
All eight players on the 49ers’ roster will take part in the doubles semifinal beginning at 9 a.m. on Sunday, but the final may be moved to LBSU on Monday. This would prevent some ‘Niners from playing four matches in one day.
The tournament’s top-seeded duo of Anais Dallara and Deborah Armstrong will take on LBSU’s Julie Luzar and Sarah Cantlay in one semifinal matchup. Dallara and Armstrong advanced with an 8-1 win over UC Riverside’s Natalie McKay and Angelique Corpuz.
Meanwhile, Luzar and Cantlay beat Cal State Fullerton’s tandem of Morgan McIntosh and Tiffany Mai, 8-3, to move on to Sunday’s semifinal round.
Junior Rachel Manasse — playing in her first tournament this season — and Klaudia Malenovska won both of their matches to set up a meeting with the LBSU pair of Jaklin Alwai and Anna Jeczmionka, who won by walkover in the round of 16.
The Beach flexed its muscle on the singles side as well.
All seven of the 49ers participating in singles advanced to the quarterfinal round in convincing fashion. The only struggle came in Cantlay’s three-set win over Cal State Northridge senior Nina Jaworowski in the round of 16.
Cantlay’s 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 victory set up a match with Malenovska, which the sophomore dropped 6-0, 6-1. Malenovska will face Alawi in Sunday’s semifinal round after Alawi defeated Jeczmionka 6-0, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
Jeczmionka defeated CSUF’s Malorie dela Cruz 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinal round.
In a minor upset, Luzar defeated Armstrong 6-2, 6-4 to advance to Sunday’s semifinals. Armstrong made it to the semifinal round after a walkover by CSUN’s Maria Pistalu. Luzar took care of Mai 6-2, 6-0 before beating Armstrong.
Dallara took part in the only quarterfinal match that didn’t feature two LBSU players. The junior defeated McIntosh 6-1, 6-1 after taking care of UCR’s Nadia Sakhakom 6-3, 6-0 in the round of 16. With the win, Dallara is slated to face Luzar in the other all-LBSU semifinal matchup.
Manasse, who is recovering from off-season hand surgery, is the only player not taking part in singles competition. The semifinal round is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m on Sunday.
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.