Broncos impress at Long Beach State Winter Invitational

Friday, January 21

Long Beach, Calif.

All Day

Boise State

Long Beach St., Portland, CSUN

Broncos impress at Long Beach State Winter Invitational

1/24/2022 12:06:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Boise State goes 22-12 at the singles and doubles tournament to open the spring campaign.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Boise State's women's tennis team opened the 2022 campaign in solid fashion finishing with the best record (22-12) of four teams at the Long Beach State Winter Invitational over the weekend. The Blue and Orange went a combined 15-8 in singles and 7-4 in doubles. Six Broncos finished with winning singles records and three went a combined (singles and doubles) 5-1 at the tournament.

"I am really proud of the young women this weekend, as a team we accomplished the goals we set for this weekend," said Boise State Interim Head Coach Maria Lopez. "We were able to adapt to the conditions really well, playing outdoors for three long days and long hours on the court, and being able to continue to improve and raise our overall performance throughout the weekend speaks of our preparation leading to this. This team has embraced the challenges we have put in front of them day in and day out, and this weekend was no different. Looking forward to going back to the drawing board and preparing for the upcoming matches."

Leading the way for Boise State were Holly Stewart, Joana Baptista and Ana Conde Vendrell who all went 5-1 on the weekend.

Stewart went 1-1 on Friday claiming a singles victory over Long Beach State's Arina Babkova 6-4, 6-0. The sophomore then went undefeated going 4-0 on the final two days of competition, recording singles victories over Sasha Turchak of CSUN (6-4, 4-6, 6-4) and Neli Sunjic of Portland (5-4, 2-0, ret.). She teamed up with Shauna Heffernan in doubles going 2-1 overall, claiming a tiebreaker win over a team from Long Beach State (7-6(4)), then defeated a CSUN pair 6-2.

Like Stewart, Baptista also went undefeated in singles on the weekend recording wins over Long Beach State's Sheena Masuda 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, CSUN's Jolene Coetzee 6-2, 6-2, then closed it out with a victory over Portland's Sally Pethybridge 6-1, 6-4. Baptista teamed with Nicole Discenza in doubles going 2-1 overall with victories over teams from Long Beach State (7-5) and CSUN (6-3).

Conde Vendrell also went 5-1 on the weekend but went 2-1 in singles and undefeated in doubles alongside Pauline Ernstberger. The junior claimed a three-set victory over Long Beach State's Peppi Ramstedt as she rallied from a set down to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. She then defeated CSUN's Victoria Luna 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. In doubles, Conde Vendrell and Ernstberger swept past teams from Portland (6-0), Long Beach State (6-4) and a split team featuring CSUN's Repina and Boise State's Corey Patton Lossner (6-3).

"Going to the Long Beach State Winter Invitational was a really good season opener for us," said Conde Vendrell. "We went out there and competed very well as a whole. We were able to adapt to the outside conditions and show how prepared we are for the season. We got a glimpse of what we can accomplish this season. We brought the W home, the next two weeks can't come fast enough!"

Discenza went 4-2 overall recording 2-1 marks in both singles and doubles (with Baptista). Her first two singles matches went three sets with her getting a split in those matches before beating Portland's Aleksandra Dimitrijevic in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 to close out the weekend.

Shauna Heffernan also went 4-2 on the week, going 2-1 in both singles and doubles (with Stewart). She opened the competition winning her first two singles matches over Annika Alcon from Portland 6-0, 6-1, then LBSU's Zara Lennon 6-4, 7-6(5).

Ernstberger finished the tournament with a 4-2 make as well, but went 1-2 in singles and undefeated in doubles with Conde Vendrell. The sophomore recorded a singles victory over Portland's Iva Zelic (5-0, ret.).

Boise State will open the team dual season the weekend of Feb. 4-5 when they face both Dixie State and BYU in Provo, Utah.

Boise State Results
Long Beach State Winter Invitational
Jan. 21-23, 2022

Friday, Jan. 21
Singles vs. Long Beach State & Portland

Nikola Homolkova (LBSU) def. Pauline Ernstberger (BSU) 7-6(3), 6-2
Joana Baptista (BSU) def. Sheena Masuda (LBSU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Holly Stewart (BSU) def. Arina Babkova (LBSU) 6-4, 6-0
Ana Conde Vendrell (BSU) def. Peppi Ramstedt (LBSU) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Claire Le Du (LBSU) def. Nicole Discenza (BSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
Bhakti Shah (BSU) def. Zuzanna Szczepanska (LBSU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
Jana Tanevska (UP) def. Corey Patton Lossner (BSU) 6-2, 6-1
Shauna Heffernan (BSU) def. Annika Alcon (UP) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles vs. Portland

Iva Zelic/Sunjic (UP) def. Joana Baptista/Nicole Discenza (BSU) 6-4
Sally Pethbridge/Rimona Rouf (UP) def. Holly Stewart/Shauna Heffernan (BSU) 6-4
Pauline Ernstberger/Ana Conde Vendrell (BSU) def. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic/Jana Tanevska (UP) 6-0
Marija Elenvoa/Annika Alcon (UP) def. Bhakti Shah/Corey Patton Lossner (BSU) 6-4

Saturday, Jan. 22
Singles vs. CSUN & Portland

Ekaterina Repina (CSUN) def. Pauline Ernstberger (BSU) 6-2, 6-3
Joana Baptista (BSU) def. Jolene Coetzee (CSUN) 6-2, 6-2
Holly Stewart (BSU) def. Sasha Turchak (CSUN) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Ana Conde Vendrell (BSU) def. Victoria Santibanez Luna (CSUN) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Nicole Discenza (BSU) def. Jenna Dorian (CSUN) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Bhakti Shah (BSU) def. Marija Elenova (UP) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
Shauna Heffernan (BSU) vs. Zara Lennon (LBSU) 6-4, 7-6(5)

Doubles vs. Long Beach State

Joana Baptista/Nicole Discenza (BSU) def. Nikola Homolkova/Sheena Masuda (LBSU) 7-5
Holly Stewart/Shauna Heffernan (BSU) def. Peppi Ramstedt/Arina Babkova (LBSU) 7-6(4)
Pauline Ernstberger/Ana Conde Vendrell (BSU) def. Claire Le Du/Zuzanna Szczepanska (LBSU) 6-4
Zara Lennon/Andreea Ciornei (LBSU) def. Bhakti Shah/Corey Patton Lossner (BSU) 6-2