Long Beach State University
Fullerton Invitational
49ers send three to the singles semifinals at Fullerton Invitational
10/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 8, 2011
Long Beach, Calif. - Laura Bernard, Rachel Manasse, and Julie Luzar all reached the singles semifinals as Long Beach State finished another strong day at the Fullerton Invitational. Luzar and Sarah Cantlay also reached the doubles semifinals, and might be joined by Bernard and Manasse tomorrow.
Long Beach State's day started in doubles. The 49ers were forced into one retirement, as Anna Jeczmionka fell ill and was unable to compete on Saturday. The two other teams both won their Round of 16 matches, as Manasse and Bernard swept Jessica Pepa and Kalika Slevcove of Cal State Fullerton 8-0, while Cantlay and Luzar defeated their own pair of Titans, Monica Rodriguez and Malorie dela Cruz by an 8-1 margin.
Bernard and Manasse were forced to wait until tomorrow morning to play their quarterfinal doubles match due to time constraints, but Cantlay and Luzar did complete their quarterfinal draw, advancing over Jennifer Sher and Sabrina Man-Son-Hing of Cal State Northridge 8-2.
In singles, Long Beach State also had great success. Bernard defeated Sofia Hager of Oregon 6-4, 6-4, and after Karolina Rozenberg lost in three sets to Marivick Mamiit of UC Irvine 6-1, 0-6, 6-4, Bernard had a little revenge, defeating Mamiit 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals.
In the bottom half of the draw, Jeczmionka's retirement allowed Monica Rodriguez to advance, and Oregon's Julia Metzger defeated Sarah Cantlay 6-3, 6-4.
However, Julie Luzar picked up a 6-1, 6-1 win over BreJohn McCrary of CS Northridge, and Rachel Manasse won over UC Irvine's Ali Facey 6-2, 6-2 to set up the final quarterfinal.
Rather than pitting the two 49ers against each other so soon, an adjustment was made which set Luzar up against Rodriguez, and Manasse against Metzger. Long Beach State won both matches, as Manasse defeated Metzger in a three-set battle, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, while Luzar breezed over Rodriguez 6-0, 6-0 to bring the Beach pair back up against each other in the draw.
While Manasse and Luzar play in one semifinal, Bernard will play Haley Driver in the other semifinal. Due to the tournament's slightly falling behind, if Bernard defeats Driver in the semifinals, the championship match will be held Monday at Long Beach State since it would feature two 49er participants. Otherwise, the finals will be held as scheduled.
Players Mentioned
