SAN DIEGO – San Diego State seniors Tamara Arnold and Bunyawi Thamchalwat each advanced into the singles round of 32 on the first day of play at the ITA Division I Women's Southwest Regional Championships on Thursday at the Barnes Tennis Center.
The event, which is co-hosted by San Diego State and San Diego and continues through Monday, includes 16 schools from the region and features some of the top singles and doubles teams in the nation competing in one 128-person singles draw and one 64-teams doubles draw.
"It was a good day for the Aztecs," head coach Peter Mattera said. "We played some really good competition against some of the best players in the country and were able to advance two singles players and two doubles teams in the bracket. That speaks to the talent level of our overall team. Great first day."
Tomorrow's action features round of 32 and round of 16 singles matches and round of 32 doubles matches. Play begins at 8:30 a.m. PT and is free to attend.
Thamchalwat, the number two seed, had a first round bye and in the afternoon session disposed of UC Santa Barbara's Priscila Janikian in the round of 64, 6-1, 6-1.
Arnold, seeded 17-32 (players seeded nine through 16 and 17 through 32 are not distinguished by seeds but are placed in the bracket alphabetically in those seeded positions) recorded a pair of victories on the day. In the morning, the senior defeated Magdalena Hedrzak of CSUN, 6-0, 7-5, and in the afternoon took out Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik of Loyola Marymount, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3).
Both Thamchalwat and Arnold will be busy on Friday. In addition to continuing their run in the singles bracket, the duo will team-up to begin their quest for a doubles title. With a number four doubles seed, they received a bye into Friday's round of 32 match.
The Aztecs placed another duo into the round of 32 doubles, as Alicia Melosch and Nnena Nadozie defeated Gitte Heynemans and Léa Romain of Hawai'i, 6-2. The pair will face the No. 9-16-seed Eryn Cayetano and Grace Piper of USC tomorrow morning.
San Diego State's overall depth showed in singles play, with four players advancing out of the first round. In addition to Arnold and Thamchaiwat, junior Cecile Morin and senior Nnena Nadozie both posted straight-set victories in the round of 128. The two were unable to carry that momentum through the next round, suffering identical 6-2, 6-1 setbacks.
Complete brackets for the event can be found here.
Thursday, Oct. 21 Results
Singles – Round of 128 (matches involving SDSU)
(9-16) Sedona Gallagher, Arizona State def. Alexandria Von Tersch Pohrer, SDSU, 6-1, 7-5
Gitte Heynemans, Hawai'I def. Alicia Melosch, SDSU, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (4)
Nnena Nadozie, SDSU def. Eira Tobrand, Cal State Fullerton, 6-3, 7-5
(17-32) Tamara Arnold, SDSU def. Magdalena Hedrzak, CSUN, 6-0. 7-5
Kayla Meraz, Arizona def. Regina Pitts, SDSU, 6-3, 6-0
Cécile Morin, SDSU def. Mariia Nikitash, Cal State Fullerton, 6-4, 6-4
(9-16) Patricija Spaka, Arizona State def. Agustina Rimoldi Godoy, SDSU, 6-3, 6-4
McKenna Koenig, USC def. Julia Jordan, SDSU, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (5)
(2) Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, SDSU – bye
Doubles – Round of 64 (matches involving SDSU)
Shiori Fukuda, Pepperdine def. Nnena Nadozie, SDSU, 6-2, 6-1
(17-32) Tamara Arnold, SDSU def. Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik, Loyola Marymount, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
(17-32) Alexandra Vagramov, UCLA def. Cécile Morin, SDSU, 6-2, 6-1
(2) Bunyawi Thamchaiwat, SDSU def. Priscila Janikian, UCSB, 6-1, 6-1
Doubles – Round of 64 (matches involving SDSU)
(4) Bunyawi Thamchaiwat / Tamara Arnold, SDSU – bye
Stefania Rogozinska-Dzik / Vanesa Nikolovova, Loyola Marymount def. Regina Pitts / Julia Jordan, SDSU, 6-3
Alicia Melosch / Nnena Nadozie, SDSU def. Gitte Heynemans / Léa Romain, Hawai'i, 6-2
Wiktoria Rutkowska / Isabella Tcherkes-Zade, Loyola Marymount def. Alexandria Von Tersch Pohrer / Cécile Morin, SDSU, 6-1
Seeded Players Advance in ITA Southwest Regional
