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Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Tennis Begins Fall Schedule at UNLV Invitational
9/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach, Calif. - The fall tennis season gets underway this weekend, and Long Beach State is on the road in Las Vegas for the UNLV Invitational. Eight members of the Beach roster will be in action this weekend, with three newcomers scheduled to make their Long Beach State debuts.
The tournament starts Friday morning and runs all day, followed by full days of competition on Saturday and Sunday as well. LBSU has at least one representative in all five of the eight-player singles flights, plus teams in all three flights of doubles.
Defending Big West Player of the Year, Maeva Razakasoa, will represent the Beach in the No. 1 singles flight. Razakasoa, who is coming off an appearance in the NCAA Individual Championships back in May, will take on UNLV's Aiwen Zhu in her first match.
Long Beach State has two players in the No. 2 singles draw—seniors Hayley Thompson and Julie Gerard. Thompson will face Fresno State's Galina Bykova in Friday's opening round and Gerard will play Zoe Katz from USC.
Two more Beach players will compete in Flight No. 3, including junior Lena Pacholski. The transfer from Armstrong State will make her Beach debut against Emma Wilson from Fresno State. Also in the bracket is senior Laura Eales, who will face USC's Madison Westby.
A pair of 49er freshmen is in Flight No. 4: Maren Helgo and Estee Widdershoven. Helgo will face off against South Alabama's Laura Matuskova and Widdershoven will face Cristina Moroi from UNLV. In No. 6 singles action, Antonella Santeusanio will face Alina Zolotareva from South Alabama.
In doubles, the team of Thompson and Pacholski will link up to play in the No. 1 doubles flight, squaring off against USC's team of Valdes and Failla. The Beach has two teams in the No. 2 doubles draw, with Razakasoa/Helgo teaming up to face Wilson/Triebe of Fresno State and Gerard/Widdershoven will play Matuskova/Mitta from South Alabama.
Finally, in the No. 3 doubles flight, the team of Eales/Santeusanio will line up in a modified bracket with just three pairs. The Beach duo will play Walker/Lewandowska from Northern Arizona on Friday, then play Artiga/Kenic from UNLV on Sunday.
Doubles action goes first on each day of the invitational, beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Friday and at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Players Mentioned
