Bearcats Compete at Pacific 5-Way Tournament in Women's Tennis

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

FOREST GROVE, Ore. -- The Willamette University women's tennis team competed against other Northwest Conference teams from Oregon during the Pacific 5-Way Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 23 and Sunday, Sept. 24. The Bearcats participated in four flights in singles and competed in one flight in doubles.

In the singles Yellow Flight, Alexa de Crinis (So., Makawao, HI/Seabury Hall School) lost to Susanna Anand in the first round, 6-2, 6-2. After moving to the Yellow Flight consolation bracket, de Crinis was defeated by Riley Bobkiewicz of George Fox University, 8-3.

Anika Groener (Jr., Bend, OR/Summit HS) prevailed in her first round match in the singles Pink Flight, as he downed Valentina Casab-Klescova from Pacific University, 6-3, 7-5. In the Pink Flight semifinals, Arianna Rader from GFU defeated Groener in a super tie-breaker instead of a third set, 2-6, 6-3, 10-4.

Ruby Thompson (Grad., Bay City, OR/Tillamook HS) and Eva Lief (Fy., Anchorage, AK/West Anchorage HS) both competed in the singles Green Flight. Morgan Wagoner of Pacific outlasted Thompson in a super tie-breaker in the first round, 2-6, 6-4, 10-4. In the consolation bracket, Thompson played in a pro-set that went to a tie-breaker against Soraya Young-Pen of Lewis & Clark College. Young-Pen won 8-7 (7-3).

Lief's first match in the Green Flight was against Lisa Ponti from Linfield University, who triumphed 6-2, 6-1. Lief went on to win the consolation bracket, where she was victorious in both of her matches. Lief moved past Anna Emmerson from Pacific, 8-1, and downed Young-Pen, 8-5.

Grace O'Steen (So., Phoenix, AZ/Shadow Mountain HS) and Alicia Sola (Fy., Aumsville, OR/Cascade HS) were part of the singles Purple Flight. O'Steen won in the first round over Angela Nguyen of Pacific, 6-4, 7-5. In the second round, Yenny Cohen from Lewis & Clark held off O'Steen, 6-4, 6-4. Emily Redwood of Linfield downed Sola in the first round, 6-1, 6-0. During the consolation bracket, Keilyn Futter of Pacific moved past Sola, 8-3.

Two Willamette teams represented the Bearcats in the doubles Black Flight, with de Crinis pairing with Groener, while Thompson and Lief combined their efforts. Sofia Mazzola and Stella Nishimura from Pacific defeated de Crinis and Groener in the first round, 8-5. Also in the first round, Thompson and Lief fell to Shanah Denham and Sophie Denham of George Fox, 8-0. The consolation matches in the doubles Black Flight were canceled due to the weather.

Willamette has completed the fall portion of its 2023-24 schedule.