Nomoto advances as lone Middle Tennessee player left in field

CINCINNATI - Middle Tennessee freshman Yuiri Nomoto garnered the women's tennis program's lone win Friday during day two action of the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Nomoto knocked off Cincinnati's Elise Woulfe 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 64 to advance to Saturday's round of 32. She will square off against No. 98, nationally-ranked, Yevgeniya Stupak of ETSU at 8 a.m. Stupak is the No. 14 seed in the main draw singles bracket.

"Yuiri did a really good job of playing solid tennis, both physically and mentally," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "Overall, we got better today. We played really tough competition and Marietta (Bigus) did a really great job dictating her match. Her opponent just played really solid on big points, something we are still teaching our players."

Other Blue Raiders in singles action Friday included Taylor Coffey, who dropped a match to No. 1 seed Caitlin Whoriskey of Tennessee, senior Natalie Araya who fell to Megan Martzolf of Miami (Ohio), Marietta Bigus who was defeated by No. 6 seed Chelsea Preeg of Vanderbilt and Carla Nava who could not get past No. 2 seed Jackie Wu of Vanderbilt.

Only one Middle Tennessee doubles tandem was in action during day two. Araya and Bigus dropped an 8-6 decision to the No. 1 seeded pairing of Zsofia Zubor and Rosala Alda of Tennessee in the round of 16.

"We fought hard and played really solid against a very good team. If we continue to do the little things really well everyday, we will continue to give ourselves opportunities to succeed."

Nomoto will be the lone Blue Raider competing through the rest of the tournament, which is slated to continue through Sunday.

Middle Tennessee Women's Tennis Results:
Singles Main Draw (Round of 64):
Yuiri Nomoto (MT) def. Elise Woulfe (CIN) 6-3, 6-1
No. 1 Caitlin Whoriskey (TENN) def. Taylor Coffey (MT) 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 Jackie Wu (VAN) def. Carla Nava (MT) 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 Chelsea Preeg (VAN) def. Marietta Bigus (MT) 6-4, 6-4
Megan Martzolf (MIA) def. Natalie Araya (MT) 6-1, 6-2

Open Doubles (Round of 16):
No. 1 Rosala Alda/Zsofia Zubor (TENN) def. Natalie Araya/Marietta Bigus (MT) 8-6

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