Utes Wrap Up Opening Weekend of Fall Action

Friday, September 29

Berkeley, CA

University of Utah

Cal Invite

10/1/2023 7:52 PM | Women's Tennis

BERKELEY, Calif. - The Utah Women's tennis team wrapped up a competitive weekend on Saturday afternoon with three Utes competing at the Cal Fall Invitational and two Utes at the ITA All-American Championships.

"Overall a productive weekend for the freshman in their first collegiate event," said head coach Ric Mortera. "There are definitely match situations that we are going to learn a lot from and use that to help us grow. We didn't play our best tennis but there's a lot to be excited about this group and we look forward to continuing to lay the groundwork for their development."

Marcela Lopez and Kaila Barksdale embarked to Cary, N.C. to compete in the ITA All-American Championships. In singles action, Lopez picked up a 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-1) win in the initial round over USC's Grace Piper. In the round of 64, Lopez battled with Texas' Vivian Ovrootsky but ultimately fell with scores of 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 7-5.

Lopez and Barksdale will team up to compete in the qualifying doubles round of 64 Monday, Oct. 2 at 11:30 a.m. (MT). The duo will take on Portland's Iva Zelic and Sally Pethybridge.

"Happy for Marclea [Lopez] and how her fall is starting off," Mortera said. "She has been working on building her game to compete at a high level and these first couple of matches are steps in the right direction."

At the Cal Fall Invitational, Emma Kamper and Sara Akid posted their first collegiate wins with an 8-3 win over No. 3 seeded Katja Wiersholm and Makenna Thiel from Cal.

In the doubles blue draw, Kamper and Akid made a deep run into the tournament. After their win in the round of 16, the duo defeated Carolina Millan and Irena Muradyan from SJSU 8-2 to advance to the semifinal round. Kamper and Akid battled hard in the semifinals before falling 8-3 by the No. 2 seed, Emilee Astle and Yujia Huang from BYU .

Both Kamper and Akid competed in the singles blue draw. Kamper battled in her round of 32 match and won in her first set 6-3, before being defeated by UCSB player, Kira Reuter.

Akid found victory in two matches in singles action. In the round of 32 she defeated Gonzaga's Kianna Oda in three sets and a tiebreak with scores of 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-2). Later in the round of 16 she defeated SJSU's Carolina Millan. After dropping the first set to Millan, Akid surged for a comeback posting final scores of 1-6, 6-1, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, Akid fell to No. 2 seed, Hannah Viller Moeller from Cal 6-1 6-2.

The last Ute to compete this weekend was Isabella Pitchford. She made her collegiate debut in the singles white draw. Pitchford competed hard but was eliminated by Gonzaga's Ella Nielsen 6-1 6-1.

The Utes will next head to the Women of Troy Invite hosted by USC Oct. 6 - Oct. 8 before hosting the ITA Regionals Oct. 18-22.

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ITA All-American Championships
Singles - Round of 128
Marcela Lopez (UU) def. Grace Piper (USC) 7-6(7-3), 7-6(7-3)

Singles - Round of 64
Vivian Ovrootsky (UT Austin) def. Marcela Lopez (UU) 7-6(7-3), 1-6, 7-5

Doubles - Qualifying
Iva Zelic/Sally Pethybridge (UP) def. Marcel Lopez/Kaila Barksdale (UU) 8-3

Doubles - Consolation
Sara Ziodato/Margaret Navarro (UV) def. Marcela Lopez/Kaila Barksdale (UU) 8-3

Cal Invite Day 1
Singles
Sara Akid (UU) def. Kianna Oda (GU) 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(7-2)
Kira Reuter (UCSB) def. Emma Kamper (UU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Ella Nielsen (GU) def. Isabella Pitchford (UU) 6-1, 6-1

Doubles
Sara Akid/Emma Kamper (UU) def. Katja Wiersholm/Makenna Thiel (CAL) 8-3
Sara Akid/Emma Kamper (UU) def. Carolina Millan/Irena Muradyan (SJSU) 8-2
Isabella Pitchford (UU)/Grace McSkimming (SSU) def. Lia Espinal/Caroline Wernli (GU) 8-2

Cal Invite Day 2
Singles
Sara Akid (UU) def. Carolina Millan (SJSU) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
Hannah Viller Moeller (CAL) def. Sara Akid (UU) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
Emilee Astle/Yujia Huang (BYU) def. Sara Akid/Emma Kamper (UU) 8-3
Anastasia Luneva/Wiem Boubaker (UN) def. Isabella Pitchford (UU)/Grace McSkimming (SSU) 8-3

Cal Invite Day 3
Doubles - Extra
Arianna Stavropoulos/Kaia Wolfe (UCD) def. Sara Akid/Emma Kamper (UU) 8-7(7-2)