The San Diego State Women’s tennis team hosted the start of the ITA Southwest Regional Championships at the Aztec Tennis Center. The five-day tournament, packed with singles and doubles matches, concluded on October 22.
The Aztecs entered this tournament with momentum from their last tournament, the Mountain West Fall Qualifier in Las Vegas, where Gloria Alogo and Jo-Yee Chan reached the singles semifinals.
SDSU started the tournament positively in the first round of singles qualifying.
Zoe Olmos defeated Badillo Hernandez of Long Beach State 6-3, 6-1, and Charlotte Roesch emerged victorious after a thrilling battle against UCI’s Fowler, winning 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1). Vesa Gjinaj received a first-round BYE.
In the second round, Olmos continued her impressive form, taking down Nikitash of Fullerton 6-4, 6-2. Gjinaj, in a marathon three-setter, edged out Moratalla Sanz of CSUN 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2. However, Roesch’s run ended with a tough loss to Cal Poly’s Ozerets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Day two saw the Aztecs put up a strong showing in doubles.
Olmos and Gjinaj defeated UCSD’s Kelly Leung and Katelyn Vu 8-5, while Roesch and Alogo pulled off a hard-fought victory over USC’s Simone Kay and Jana Hossam, winning 8-7 (7-3). Meanwhile, Jo-Yee Chan and Martinache advanced with a BYE.
In the singles round of 64, Jo-Yee Chan narrowly defeated Cal Poly’s Jessica MacCallum in a nail-biting contest, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-5. However, in the next round, Chan fell to UCLA’s Elise Wagle, 6-2, 6-3.
Martinache, Alogo, and Olmos all fought in a gruesome battle, each playing three full sets with tiebreakers.
Martinache lost to USC Anya Murthy 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5. Alogo, after a grueling baseline exchange, was edged out by Gala Arangio of GCU 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Olmos fought hard but was defeated by USC’s Jana Hossam Salah 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-3. Gjinah lost 6-1, 6-1 to USC Sloane Morra.
In the doubles round of 32, Martinache and Chan continued their strong form, defeating Fullerton’s Taylor and Yanotovskaya 8-5. However, SDSU’s other pairs—Roesch and Alogo, and Olmos and Gjinaj—were defeated by Pepperdine and UCLA teams, respectively.
In the round of 16, Martinache and Chan’s run came to an end with an 8-5 loss to UCLA’s Guichard and Lutkemeyer.
“It feels really good to play at home. It’s my first time playing at home, and there’s always amazing energy. It’s nice to be on our home courts—this is like our house,” said Jo-Yee Chan during the second day of matches. “My personal goals are to keep improving with my team and to push myself to the best of my abilities. I want to do my best for the team and just be a good team player”.
Next, the Aztecs will compete on home turf again as they host the SDSU Fall Classic at the Aztec Tennis Center from Nov. 8-10.
