POCATELLO, Idaho – The Bengals women's tennis team played their first two home matches of the season this weekend, taking on Colorado Mesa University and College of Idaho in Reed Gym.
Beginning in the doubles matches in the Bengals' match vs Colorado Mesa, the first duo to wrap up their match for ISU was Sydney Morris and Hana Cho playing in the #3 doubles spot, sweeping Thomas/Maier, 6-0. In the #1 doubles match was Sol and Lola O'Lideadha downing the Maverick duo of Coman/Livingston 6-3, to secure the Bengals the doubles point. In the final doubles match was Asem Shoybek and Stefanya Shalakhova at #2, who defeated Rodriguez/Campos 7-6 (7-4).
As the Bengals looked to continue their momentum from the doubles matches, the O'Lideadha twins got the Bengals started. With each of them sweeping their opponents with ease, only allowing their matchups to win three sets combined in the #3 and #4 singles matches. The rest of the team followed suit, as Hana Cho, Asem Shoybek, Megan Lang-Gould, and Olivia Mikkelson would all win in straight sets in their singles matches. En route to a Bengals 7-0 win over the Mavericks.
Idaho State would need to focus up quick, with another match the following day against the College of Idaho Yotes.
The Bengals came out of the gates strong in this one, as they swept the doubles matches, Hana Cho and Sydney Morris would end up winning their #3 doubles match over McNeel/Sagehorn 6-2, the O'Lideadha twins won the #1 doubles match over Ljuba/Kreutzer 6-2, and Asem Shoybek and Stefanya Shalakhova would finish off the doubles sweep for ISU, taking down Willcuts/Tran with ease, 6-0.
In singles play the Bengals continued to flex their muscles, as ISU would only allow the Yotes to win a total of three sets across all six singles matches. In the #1 singles match Hana Cho would take care of business, downing L. Kreutzer 6-0, 6-0, and in the #2 singles match Lola O'Lideadha would defeat H. Ljuba 6-1, 6-0. In the #3 singles match we saw Sol O'Lideadha win 6-1, 6-1 over COI's N. Tran, and in the #4 singles position Stefanya Shalakhova would cruise to a 6-0, 6-0 win over B. McNeel. Rounding out the singles matches for ISU, Sydney Morris would get the win in the #5 spot, taking the match 6-0, 6-0 over A. Willcuts, and in the final singles match Olivia Mikkelson would defeat E. Sagehorn with a final score of 6-0, 6-0
Following their first two home victories of the season Idaho State women's tennis squad improves to 3-3 on the season.
Head coach, Gretchen Maloney, shared her thoughts on the team's performance over the weekend, "We competed well this weekend… We really worked on different elements to improve each players' game. It was also nice being home in Reed and seeing the support from the local tennis community. "
The Bengals' next match will be next weekend, Saturday, February 10th on the road, as Idaho State will face off with Utah Tech in a neutral site match in Ogden, Utah.
