The Montana State women’s tennis team narrowly lost to Eastern Washington with a final score of 4-3 on Friday at the Jim Thorpe Fieldhouse in Cheney, Washington.
Montana State began the match strongly by winning all three doubles matches. Lola Bean and Kavya Khirwar defeated Leandra Nizetic and Maria Lopez 6-1 at No. 3 doubles. Angel Bean and Nia Gelashvili also secured a 6-1 victory over Anait Arutiunian and Sara Vasic on court two, clinching the doubles point for the Bobcats. Anna Wise and Terezie Stverakova completed the sweep with a close 7-5 win against Olivia Marais and Zoe Prael on court one.
Despite their early lead, Montana State was unable to maintain momentum in singles play. Eastern Washington’s Leandra Nizetic tied the match by defeating Anna Wise 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 singles. Angel Bean put Montana State back ahead with a straight-set win over Zoe Pradel at No. 3 singles, but Veronika Gayevyk of Eastern Washington edged out Terezie Stverakova in three sets on court four.
Nia Gelashvili earned a hard-fought victory for Montana State on court two, overcoming Anait Arutiunian in a third-set tiebreaker, but Eastern Washington clinched the overall match by winning at No. 6 and No. 5 singles—Aneliss Zamfirescu defeated Elle Middleton, while Olivia Marais beat Lola Bean.
Eastern Washington improved its season record to 7-4 overall and opened Big Sky Conference play with a win. Montana State dropped to 3-7 for the season and remains winless in conference play.
Montana State head coach Hailey Barrett commented after the match: “Eastern Washington played a great match today,” Barrett said. “We started off well, winning the doubles point, and then just came up short in singles. We’ll look to rebound with a great match against Gonzaga tomorrow.”
The Bobcats will face Gonzaga next at the Stevens Center on Saturday morning.
For more updates about Montana State women’s tennis, fans can follow their Instagram account @MSUWomensTennis or visit msubobcats.com for information about all athletic programs.
