Montana
Long Beach State Invitational
Gbadamosi/Pelchat win consolation championship in Long Beach
10/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Seniors Precious Gbadamosi and Laurence Pelchat teamed up to win their second consolation championship in as many weeks.
A week removed from their title in Pullman, Wash., the pair found success in Long Beach, capping off their weekend with a victory over Dvali/Lanhani from UC Irvine.
The pair finished with a 3-1 record in the first flight. Their only loss came on Friday against Valenzuela/Borkowski of Cal State Fullerton, 8-6.
Coach Steve Ascher is proud of his team, but wouldn't say if their recent success has earned them the No. 1 doubles spot when the real tournaments roll around.
"Precious and Laurence had stretches where they played very good doubles. Having a chance to play a team from UCLA and then beating them is always exciting. Getting off to better starts will give them a shot at competing against the best and vying for titles against these very good teams," he said.
The other two teams of Grizzlies fed off of the success of their senior leaders and had very strong showings.
Senior Sasha Carter, who sat out last week, paired up with freshman Christy Scott in the second flight. The two finished their weekend with an impressive 3-1 record. Their final match was a thrilling 8-7(10) tiebreak vicory over Strong/Duva of UC Irvine.
The final pair for the Griz featured freshman Cam Kincaid and sophomore Hannah Sulz. The duo held their own in the first flight, finishing with two wins and two losses. The final match for the pair was an 8-6 victory over Dong/Peri of Portland State.
In singles, Gbadamosi and Sulz led the way with identical 2-1 records. It took Gbadamosi three sets to find victory in her final match against Natasha Rizvi from the Air Force Academy.
Sulz also finished her weekend with a victory as she defeated Danielle Pham of Cal State Fullerton, 6-3,7-6(6).
"Hannah has been very focused and is gaining experience from each match she has played this fall. Her last match really showed her ability to mix up her game style and work hard to put forth constructive points that put her in a situation to pull out a close match," Ascher said.
Seniors Carter and Pelchat also had strong showings in singles, posting 2-2 records. In what might have been the match of the weekend, Carter defeated Marcelli Magday, 2-6, 6-3, 14-12.
Ascher is incredibly pleased with his three seniors, noting that they are among the best in the program's history.
"All three players are already close to being the all-time winningest players in the history of the program and we have a ton of matches to go," he said
Freshmen Cam Kincaid and Christy Scott struggled slightly in singles, finishing with 0-3 records.
Ascher was proud of his team's results in what was a highly competitive tournament.
"I think the biggest challenge of the weekend was to head down to outdoor courts that are much slower, play regional and nationally ranked teams in their home environments, and play against players who are competing all summer in ITA, Women's Open, and ITF events," he said.
The Griz will have the next couple weekends off to assess where they are at as a team. Their next action will be on Oct. 24 in Northridge, Calif.
