Long Beach State University
Beach Tennis Fall Invite
Another Strong Day for Beach Tennis at Fall Tournament
10/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach, Calif. - The Beach had a strong showing on Saturday at the Beach Tennis Fall Tournament, going 10-2 in singles play to send three singles players into championship matches on Sunday. Hayley Thompson, Lena Pacholski and Natalia Munoz will all play for individual singles titles tomorrow after going 2-0 on Saturday in their respective brackets. Maren Helgo and Julie Gerard teamed up for a win to advance to the Flight A doubles final, meaning five 49er players will compete for a championship on Sunday morning.
Gerard went 2-0 in Flight A of singles to reach the consolation final of the bracket, while Thompson will be playing in the championship match on the other side. Thompson defeated a pair of opponents in straight sets Saturday and will go against LMU's Jessica Perez in the Flight A final.
Pacholski won her first match of the day by default, then outlasted Lana Rinaldi of Grand Canyon with a narrow 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5) win. The junior will face CSUN's Ki Kim in the Flight B final on Sunday.
At Flight D, freshman Natalia Munoz improved her career record to 3-0 with two commanding wins on Saturday, taking decisions of 6-3, 6-0 then 6-4, 6-0. She will face Celina Buhr in Sunday's final.
Helgo and Gerard won their doubles match, 6-3, over a pair from Cal State Fullerton, setting up a Flight A doubles final against Grand Canyon's Prudhomme/Baklini.
Action begins at 9 a.m. with doubles finals, followed by singles play. Fans attending the matches should be conscious of the street closures around the Long Beach State campus on Sunday morning, related to the running of the Long Beach Marathon.
Players Mentioned
