Polina Marakhtanova leads successful weekend effort for UC Davis, advancing to the final 16
BY THEO KAYSER— sports@theaggie.org
On Oct. 2, the UC Davis women’s tennis team began competition at the Big West Qualifier in La Jolla, California. The 64-player tournament took place over the span of four days, with six Aggies entering the ring in hopes of victory.
The Big West Qualifier is a yearly tournament held for schools in the Big West Conference to face off early in their seasons. These schools included UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, California State University, Fullerton, California State University, Northridge, University of Hawaiʻi, Long Beach State and California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo (SLO).
In the tournament’s inaugural 64 rounds, five of the UC Davis Aggies’ six competitors walked off the court in victory.
Mika Ikemori, a third-year psychology major, and Penelope Wong, a second-year environmental engineering major, competed early in the day and both earned victories in three sets.
Following suit, Vivian Gallaway, a first-year business major, and Polina Marakhtanova, a second-year cognitive science major, competed 30 minutes apart and won their matches in just two sets. Finally, Maya Youssef, a fourth-year political science major, won a three-set match against her opponent from UC Irvine, concluding day one.
The tournament’s second round proved much less successful for the Aggies, with four of their five players exiting at this stage. The sole Aggie who saw victory on the morning of Oct. 3 was Marakhtanova, who built upon her dominant first match win with another two-set sweep. This time, she squared off against Diana De Simone from Long Beach State, winning with a score of 6-4 in both sets.
The tournament’s round of 16 began for the Aggies with Marakhtanova’s third match of the weekend just seven hours after her second. It was at this point that the Aggies’ competition for the weekend concluded, as Marakhtanova suffered a two-set loss against Cal Poly SLO’s Jessica MacCallum with a score of 6-4, 6-3.
After a weekend of both success and loss, the Aggies will have another opportunity in a tournament-style competition, as the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northwest Regional in Berkeley, California will begin Oct. 10. After this tournament, the season will march along with a long series of dual meets, beginning with San José State University on Oct. 25.
Written by: Theo Kayser — sports@theaggie.org
