San Diego State women’s tennis wrapped up the Fall Classic I, which brought together players from Grand Canyon University, UTEP, Air Force and CSUN on Sunday afternoon at the Aztec Tennis Center.
The Aztecs completed the finale of the three-day tournament with victories in two doubles matches and four singles matches.
Head coach Peter Mattera said that while the team did not play perfect, it was a promising start.
“We weren’t meant to win every match, and we didn’t, but I thought overall the performance today in singles was quite good,” he said.
A big winner for SDSU was sophomore Nnena Nadozie, who won her singles match for the third consecutive day with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory overy UTEP freshman Kirsten Prelle.
Nadozie said she was happy with the way she played to start the season.
“I think I played pretty well this week,” she said. “My focus was… on getting that extra ball on the court, whether I’m tired, after a long point. I definitely think I was successfully able to do that.”
In addition to Nadozie, freshmen Ellie Ashley, Agustina Rimoldi Godoy and Aesha Patel all came away with singles victories for the Aztecs.
Ashley won all three of her matches over the weekend, and said her play in the tournament helped put her freshman jitters behind her.
“I feel pretty good now,” she said. “I was nervous to start with in practice, but having these matches now I feel pretty good for the rest of the season.”
The longest doubles match of the day came from the pairing of Patel and sophomore Abbie Mulbarger, with the two defeating UTEP freshman Rine Nozaki and sophomore Milena Baigorria 7-6 (3).
Mulbarger and Patel won both of their doubles matches during the tournament, and Patel praised her partner for playing well and supporting her on the court.
“(Mulbarger’s) a great partner, she’s good at the net and she’s really positive,” she said. “She helped me when I was choking and stuff, she really talked to me and she was supporting me.”
The tournament was the first time Mulbarger and Patel competed together in doubles, and Mattera said it was a good sign for the whole team that they gelled so quickly.
“I think what that shows me is, because those two really have played very little together, we’ve got the ability to put together some really good teams,” he said.
The Aztecs other doubles winner was the pairing of junior Mia Smith and senior Jenny Moinard, who defeated Grand Canyon sophomores Ludovica Infantino and Valentina Mokrova 6-4.
The Fall Classic I is the first of two fall tournaments that SDSU hosts during its fall schedule, along with a trip to Point Loma in October for the ITA Southwest Regionals.
SDSU will kick off its regular season in the spring, starting with a home match on Jan. 20 against Sacramento State.
