Sunday, January 19
Long Beach, Calif.
All Day
Long Beach State University
vs
Beach Tennis Winter Invite
Photo by: John Fajardo
Beach Tennis Has Perfect Sunday to Close Winter Invitational
1/19/2020 4:45:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach State went 12-0 on the final day of the 2020 Beach Tennis Winter Invite to close out the event in style. Senior Natalia Munoz won the singles championship after a thrilling 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 win on Sunday.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Long Beach State went undefeated on Sunday, winning all 12 of its matches on its home courts to close out the 2020 Beach Tennis Winter Invitational. Natalia Munoz was declared the singles champion after her exciting 6-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory at the top spot in the lineup.
"It was a very successful weekend for our team," said Long Beach State head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. "We learned from every match and we saw improvement each day, which is all a coach can ask from their players. I am proud of our players, it was a strong start to our spring season."
The day started with a dominant performance in doubles from the Beach. LBSU went 4-0 against pairs from Portland, dropping only three games combined across those four wins. Munoz and partner Zara Lennon were 6-0 winners at the top singles flight, and Wiktoria Rutkowska and Emma Bardet also earned a perfect 6-0 win at No. 2. Lalita Devarakonda and Carlota Casasampere won 6-1 at the No. 3 spot and Sadaf Sadeghvaziri and Inbar Cohen earned a 6-2 victory.
In singles, the day concluded with a thrilling three-set win for Munoz, who held off conference rival Ekaterina Repina in a back-and-forth match. After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, Munoz was able to take the next two games 7-5, 7-5 to end the tournament on a high note. Everyone else in the lineup won in straight sets against opponents from CSUN, except for Wiktoria Rutkowska who won 6-0, 6-1 against Anna Oberg from Portland.
Long Beach State will look to roll this momentum into the start of dual match play, which begins on Feb. 1 at No. 12 USC. The Beach opens its home schedule with the Big West opener against UC Davis on Feb. 2 at 11 a.m.
"It was a very successful weekend for our team," said Long Beach State head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. "We learned from every match and we saw improvement each day, which is all a coach can ask from their players. I am proud of our players, it was a strong start to our spring season."
The day started with a dominant performance in doubles from the Beach. LBSU went 4-0 against pairs from Portland, dropping only three games combined across those four wins. Munoz and partner Zara Lennon were 6-0 winners at the top singles flight, and Wiktoria Rutkowska and Emma Bardet also earned a perfect 6-0 win at No. 2. Lalita Devarakonda and Carlota Casasampere won 6-1 at the No. 3 spot and Sadaf Sadeghvaziri and Inbar Cohen earned a 6-2 victory.
In singles, the day concluded with a thrilling three-set win for Munoz, who held off conference rival Ekaterina Repina in a back-and-forth match. After dropping the first set in a tiebreak, Munoz was able to take the next two games 7-5, 7-5 to end the tournament on a high note. Everyone else in the lineup won in straight sets against opponents from CSUN, except for Wiktoria Rutkowska who won 6-0, 6-1 against Anna Oberg from Portland.
Long Beach State will look to roll this momentum into the start of dual match play, which begins on Feb. 1 at No. 12 USC. The Beach opens its home schedule with the Big West opener against UC Davis on Feb. 2 at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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