PROVO, Utah – The Idaho State women's tennis team wrapped up competition at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships, hosted by BYU in Provo, Utah, highlighted by strong performances from Emmy Richards and Veronika Zarovna, as the Bengals advanced to the Round of 32 in both singles and doubles competition.
Idaho State finished the official tournament draws with four combined victories, three in singles and one in doubles, while adding four more wins in additional singles matches played outside of the tournament brackets. The Bengals recorded eight total victories across all matches played in Provo.
"Overall, really pleased with how the girls performed at regionals" shared head coach, Gretchen Maloney. "We had several wins over some very good programs and the girls really worked on improving their game every match. Attitude and effort was in their control and they were so focused."
Zarovna led the Bengals with four singles victories throughout the week, including an undefeated run through the singles qualifying draw, while Emmy Richards reached the Round of 32 in singles and doubles competition.
The Bengals opened tournament play in singles qualifying, where Zarovna began her run with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 victory over Montana's Paige Bott. Needing one more victory to secure a spot in the main draw, Zarovna faced ninth-seeded Paula Schaefer in the second round of qualifying.
After dropping the opening set, 4-6, Zarovna responded with a dominant 6-2 second-set victory to force a decisive 10-point match tiebreaker. The Bengal standout completed the comeback, winning the tiebreaker 10-7 to secure her second consecutive victory and earn a spot in the singles main draw.
Fellow Bengal Victoria Grymalska also competed in the qualifying bracket, falling to Utah State's ninth-seeded Sabina Pintea, 6-1, 6-1, in the opening round.
In the singles main draw, Richards opened competition with a hard-fought straight-set victory over Nevada's Petra Janigova. Richards claimed a tightly contested opening set, 7-5, before battling through a second-set tiebreaker, winning 7-6 (7-4) to advance to the Round of 32.
Awaiting Richards in the second round was the region's second overall seed, Chelsea Bluestein of host BYU. Richards pushed the Cougars' standout throughout the opening set before ultimately falling, 7-5, 6-3, bringing her singles main draw run to an end.
Meanwhile, after battling her way through the qualifying draw, Zarovna faced eighth-seeded Louise Ternstrom of Colorado in the opening round of the main draw. Ternstrom claimed the match, 6-2, 6-3, ending Zarovna's run through the singles tournament bracket with a 2-1 record.
In doubles competition, Richards and Zarovna teamed up to deliver another impressive performance for the Bengals.
The Idaho State duo opened doubles play with a dominant 8-2 victory over Montana's Rebecka Jerlardtz and Kate Prichard, surrendering just two games to their Big Sky Conference opponents to advance to the Round of 32.
In the second round, Richards and Zarovna faced another difficult test against the region's second-seeded doubles pairing, Colorado's Ema Bubalo and Lera Alexin.
The Buffaloes ultimately claimed an 8-3 victory, ending Idaho State's doubles run in the Round of 32.
Richards and Zarovna each finished their respective Round of 32 appearances against the tournament's No. 2 seeds, with Richards facing Bluestein in singles and the Bengal duo taking on Bubalo and Alexin in doubles.
In addition to the official tournament draws, the Bengals competed in six additional singles matches from October 14-16, finishing with a 4-2 record in those contests.
Macy Richards opened the additional competition on October 14 with a straight-set victory over Colorado State's Zaria McGinty, winning 6-3, 6-4.
The following day, Zarovna continued her strong week with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 victory over Nevada's Nikol Janickovicova. Grymalska also competed on October 15, falling to Utah Tech's Nutsa Tsintsadze, 7-5, 6-2.
Idaho State added two more victories on October 16, as Emmy Richards cruised past Boise State's Ella Piron, 6-1, 6-1, while Zarovna closed out her singles competition with a dominant 6-0, 6-3 victory over New Mexico's Vivica Corley.
Macy Richards also returned to action on October 16, falling to BYU's Angelique van der Walt, 6-2, 6-0.
Zarovna finished the week with a team-leading 4-1 singles record across tournament and additional matches, while Emmy Richards went 2-1 in singles competition. Together, the two Bengals also added a doubles victory over Montana.
Idaho State concluded its time in Provo with four victories in the official tournament draws and four additional singles wins, gaining valuable experience against some of the top competition in the Mountain Region.
