University of Utah Athletics

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah women's tennis team will open its 2018 season in January with nine home meets in the Eccles Tennis Center highlighting the slate of competition. 

Utah will kick off the 2018 spring season against Florida State in Honolulu, Hawai'i. They will play on Jan. 12. 

The team will then travel to Minneapolis, Minn. to play in the Courtside Classic on Feb. 3-4. This will be the Utes first appearance at the Classic. 

The Utes return home to host Utah State on Feb. 15 with Weber State and Denver on Feb. 17 and Boise State on Feb. 18.

Utah hits the road Feb. 23-24 to play in the Blue Gray Tournament in Montgomery, Ala. There will be eight other teams from all over the nation participating in the tournament. They then travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 2 to take on the New Mexico Lobos. 

Utah begins Pac-12 play as they host Arizona State on Mar. 9 and Arizona on Mar. 11. Last season, the Utes defeated Arizona, 4-3. 

Utah will then hit the road for a three game stand. They will play UC Davis on March 15 before taking on Pac-12 opponents Stanford on March 15 and California on March 17. 

The Utes return home for one game as they will play Fresno State on March 23 before they travel to Washington to take on Washington State on March 30 and Washington on April 1. 

Utah will host rival BYU on April 4. They also will host Pac-12 opponents, UCLA and USC on April 6 and 8. 

The Utes close out regular season on the road at Oregon on April 15 and Colorado on April 21.

The Pac-12 Championships are slated to begin April 25-28 in Ojai, Calif. NCAA regionals will begin on May 11-13. Location is to be determined. 

Utah Wraps up Fall
The Utah women's tennis team wrapped up a full fall schedule in November as they competed against some of the best competition in the country.

"We are an experienced team with several seniors in key positions, but we will also depend on some talented underclassmen stepping up and through the fall, that has definitely occurred," Iandolo said. 

"We return nearly every player from last year's squad including our top four players, Margo, Breezy, Alexia and Jena. Throughout the fall, Whitney Turley has been the most improved player on the team and combined with the returning top four, we have some great opportunities."

Senior Margo Pletcher and junior Brianna Turley competed at the ITA All-American Championships in early October. 

Pletcher played in the qualifying singles group as well as the in the main draw doubles group with Turley. This was the duo's second consecutive year competing in the main draw round. 

In the qualifying singles, Pletcher was defeated by Cassie Mercer of Virginia in a two-set match, 6-1, 6-3. She then played in the consolation round against Kelly Chen of Duke. She put up a tough fight but fell 6-2, 6-1. 

She later would play with Turley in the main doubles draw. The duo took on Jessie Aney and Alexa Graham of North Carolina in the first round coming up short, 8-2. In the consolation round, they took on Gabriela Porubin and Fatima Bizhukova of No.16 Wichita State. They came out victorious, 8-6.

On Oct. 11-15, Utah hosted the ITA Regionals for 19 teams from the ITA Mountain Region. During the regionals, the Utes put up an impressive showing. 

Whitney Turley notched a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Daniela Cozzi of Southern Utah and would later pick up big wins over Chiara Tomasetti of Northern Arizona (6-4, 6-3) and Meredith Jones of Air Force, 6-0, 6-3.

W. Turley also teamed up with Heimuli in doubles to defeat Pac-12 foe Colorado, 8-6.

Adding to the wins in doubles was Pletcher and B. Turley scoring an 8-3 win over Utah State. 

B. Turley took home multiple wins during competition. She defeated Hannah Jones of Utah State 2-1 (5-7, 6-1, 6-1) and Huibre-Mare Botes of Idaho State (6-4, 6-4).

Robertson took home a win as she defeated Vanessa Timm of Boise State 6-1, 6-3. She later fell to rival BYU's, Kate Cusick in two sets (6-2, 6-2). 

Petrovic picked up a win in her first match against Elizabeth Barnickel of Air Force in two sets (6-2, 6-1), but fell to En-Pei Huang of UNLV in the next round (6-4, 5-7, 6-3).

2016-17 Season Highlights 
Senior Margo Pletcher earned Pac-12 honorable mention, marking the second-straight season she has received this award. Turley competed alongside Pletcher at the 2017 Intercollegiate Association's Women's All-American Championships in October. This was the duo's second appearance at the Championships. 
 
Aleixa Petrovic went 11-7 in dual match play last season. She also was named the ITA Mountain Region Most Improved Player last season. Petrovic topped No. 38 Caroline Doyle of No. 6 Stanford, 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 and nationally-ranked Denise Starr of No. 13 California, 6-4, 6-1 in singles play.

Cheng finished the 2016-17 season with a 9-9 record. At the ITA Mountain Regionals Tournament, she teamed with Calton to defeat No. 15 Nuria Ormeno and Louise Ronaldson of Colorado. 

"Petrovic was one of the most improved players in the league last year and as this continues, it allows us to have a great chance and three players who could play one if given the opportunity," he said. "Jena is also a very talented ball striker who can make a real difference for us."

Robertson paired with Petrovic last season to defeat Sofia Perez and Laura Falceto Font of FGCU, 6-3. She also had multiple individual wins over opponents from around the nation.

At the 2017 Pac-12 Championships, in singles play, Turley came out on top against Arizona's Chypyha, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. 

"Victoria Robertson is going to be a real threat to make the singles line up as she has worked extremely hard through the off season," Iandolo said. "Also, Whitney Turley will surprise a lot of people this year."

Utah Welcomes Two for 2017-18 Season 
The Utes welcomed sophomore Leah Heimulu and freshman Jasmine Rich to the lineup this season. 

Heimulu played her freshman season at BYU-Hawaii where she was named ITA Rookie of the Year in 2017 while also being named Pac-west Freshman of the Year. She was a perfect 24-0 in singles and 19-0 in doubles play at BYU-Hawaii. 

Rich, a Salt Lake native, played at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, Calif. her freshman year before finishing her career at East High School in Salt Lake City. She helped Torrey Pines to a conference championship. 

"Leah Heimuli gives us another great talent that could in fact play anywhere in our lineup," Iandolo said. "Jasmine Rich is our only freshman and will add great depth to our team."

Utah Signs Four to 2018-19 Class
Anya Lamoreaux (Mesa, Ariz.), Lindsay Hung (San Clemente, Cal.) Emily Dush (Chula Vista, Cal.) and Madison Tattini (Lexington, Ill.) will join the Utes for the 2018-19 season. 

Lamoreaux is a two-time AZ State High School Championship and is ranked in the top four in the Southwest 18 and Under. She has  won multiple doubles tournaments with twin sister, Madeline and has won a regional tournament in USTA. 

San Clemente native, Hung signs to Utah as a 4-Star Recruit and was a runner up in the Southern California Sectional 16 and under. She is a top-10 recruit in California and a top-20 player in California. 

Dush, hailing from Chula Vista, Cal. Is ranked as a top-20 player in California and a top-25 player in Southwest. 

A top-5 player in Illinois and a top-10 player in the Midwest, Tattini will bring a lot to the table for the Utes.