Women's tennis photo

Kaytlin Taylor sends a forehand back in matchplay over the weekend. She was a standout performer, reaching two flight finals. (CSUF Athletics)

Cal State Fullerton women’s tennis had a decent start to the season after participating in Long Beach State’s Fall Tournament over the weekend. The three-day tournament showed encouraging results that found the Titans on the winning side of the bracket multiple times. 

The Titans won doubles flight C and consolation bracket in doubles flight A, and finished as the runner-up in singles flight B. 

In doubles flight C, sophomore Juliette Daries and freshman Kaytlin Taylor took care of business on Friday against Grand Canyon University. The Titans won, 6-0, against the duo of Valentino Del Marco and Taylor Anderson. On Saturday, they won the flight by defeating Sarka Richterova and Anastasiia Koysyuba of Colorado State University, 6-4.

In doubles flight A, sophomore Natalie Duffy and graduate student Eira Tobrand overpowered Cal State Northridge’s Jenna Dorian and Jackie O’Neill, 6-0, on Friday. On Saturday, they lost a hard-fought match against host Long Beach State’s duo, Nikola Homolkova and Sheena Masuda, 7-6(1). Duffy and Tobrand rebounded Sunday morning as they beat Zara Lennon and Claire Le Du, 6-3, in the consolation match.

Along with winning her doubles flight, Taylor had a good showing in singles flight B, and all three Titans advanced to the winner bracket. Daries beat Del Marco, 6-2, 6-3, and Taylor defeated GCU’s Autum Prudhomme, 7-6(1), 6-1. CSUF senior YuSeung Suh beat CSUN’s Victoria Santibanez-Luna, 7-6(5), 6-2.

On Saturday, Daries lost to eventual-flight champion Dorian, 6-4, 6-3. Taylor and Suh won their first matches, 7-6(5), 6-3 and 6-1, 6-1, respectively. 

Taylor faced off against Mattea Mihaljevic from Colorado State while Suh took on Long Beach State’s Zuzanna Szczepanska. 

In the second match of the day, Taylor and Suh faced off against each other and Taylor took the victory in three sets, 7-6(5), 4-6 and 6-3. 

Taylor took Dorian to three sets on Sunday, but ultimately fell 6-4, 1-6 and 6-1. 

Rounding out the weekend, freshman Mariia Nikitash lost on Saturday after advancing from the previous match with a 6-0 set win and opponent retirement in flight A. 

In singles flight C, junior Camila Garcia won her Friday match against CSUN’s Jackie O’Neill in a come-from behind victory, 4-6, 6-1 and 6-3. Similarly, freshman Indya Nespor won her Friday flight C match against UC Irvine’s Megan Masonhing, 6-1, 6-0. Both Titans were defeated on Saturday in two sets each.

Sunday also saw the doubles duo of Suh and Nespor win the consolation draw of doubles flight B. Nikitash and Garcia also competed in this flight, winning their first match 6-1 against UC Irvine, but they fell 6-4 to Colorado State the next day. 

Suh and Nespor lost their first match on Friday to Long Beach State, 2-6. 

In the consolation draw, they followed up with a 6-3 win over UCI’s Mia Totah and Shreya Pavani on Saturday and took the win on their side of the bracket on Sunday with a 6-2 victory over CSUN’s Victoria Santibanez-Luna and Jasmine Tolmoyan.

The Titans will take the court again on Oct. 21 for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals in San Diego. The five-day tournament will conclude on Oct. 25.