Colorado Springs, Colo. (September 24, 2021) – Three Lumberjacks reached the semifinals of their respective draws during Friday's play at the ITA Bedford Cup in the Mountains.
Sofia Markova, playing in her first tournament for the Lumberjacks, came away with a pair of victories to land in the semifinals of Flight B. Beating Ky Ecton from Colorado in the first round 6-3, 6-3, Markova battled through three sets against Ana Fernandez Villa of Wyoming for her second victory of the day.
After dropping the first set 7-5, Markova rallied fir wins of 6-2 and 6-4 to advance in her bracket.
Annabel Davis and
Laura Duhl needed just one win to reach the semifinals of Flight D after drawing byes in the opening round. Davis beat out Ida Krause from Wyoming,7-6 (5), 6-3 to advance to the semis and Duhl did the same with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Colorado State's Anastasiia Kotsyuba.
Also playing in the first tournament of their collegiate careers, Davis and Duhl are now a victory away from meeting in the finals of their flight.
Four other Lumberjacks earned first-round victories, with
Gina Dittmann beating Mila Stanojevic (Colorado) 6-3, 6-4,
Ellie Millard winning 6-2, 7-5 over Andrea Cuquerella (Montana State),
Ava Neyestani earning a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Freia Lawrence (Montana State) and
Elinor Beazley opening with a 6-2, 6-4 win against JJ Chen (Montana State).
With 1-1 records on the day, the four players move into different draw stages for their respective flights.
Dittmann faces Colorado State's Sarka Richterova in the North Draw Stage of Flight A while
Mimi Bland is scheduled to face Marta Garcia-Reboredo from Montana State in the South Draw Stage.
While Markova will match up with Radka Buzkova from Colorado State in the Flight B semifinals, Millard draws Hailey Stelse of Air Force in the North Draw Stage of the flight. Neyestani and Beazley both move into the North Draw Stage of Flight C, facing Wyoming's Alyse Cormier and Idaho State's Alex Arkhipov respectively.
In the Flight D semifinals, Davis will face Denver's Andrea Beltran and Duhl will match up with Air Force's Kayleigh Yun-Thayer.
Saturday's schedule will continue doubles play in the morning before singles play resumes. Finals for both singles and doubles, in addition to extra matches, will be held on Sunday.
For updated scores and coverage of the NAU women's tennis team during the fall and spring seasons, follow the team on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook.
