Natal Claims Singles Title at Beach Tournament

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LONG BEACH, Calif. – For the second consecutive tournament, Colorado State's women's tennis team returned home with some hardware as Lucia Natal won the singles final of the C draw at the Beach Tennis Tournament on Sunday.

Natal, playing singles for the first time this season, defeated Taylor Anderson of Grand Canyon, 6-0, 6-1. The Rams could have had more, if Colorado State coach Mai-Ly Tran had allowed teammates Radka Buzkova and Sarka Richterova to play for the A singles crown, but they see enough of each other, and with a long tournament ahead of them, the thought of playing new faces was more appealing.

Then again, so was Natal's play through her draw.

"She looked great. She impressed me a lot, and she competed well," Tran said. "She wasn't 100 percent, but she was really efficient on the court to make sure she didn't give up any free games. She was very confident out there, and it was great to see her play that way in her first singles appearance."

Buzkova and Richterova picked up side matches rather than play each other, with Buzkova beating Nikola Homolkova of Long Beach State, 6-1, 6-1, while Richterova dropped a 6-3, 6-2 decision to LBSU's Zara Lennon.

Buzkova and teammate Matea Mihaljevic reached the final of the B doubles draw, dropping a 6-4 decision to Fabienne Schmidt and Autum Prudhomme of Grand Canyon. In the A draw, Somer Dalla-Bona and Tracy Guo won the consolation final, 7-5, over a blended tandem of Jessica Tsukiji (Cal Irvine)/Eira Tobrand (Cal State Fullerton). In the C draw of doubles, which was round robin, Richterova and Anastasiia Kotsyuba beat Valentina Del Marco and Aline Buhr of Grand Canyon, 6-1.

The Rams picked up a few more wins in singles consolation play as Dalla-Bona posted a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) decision over Tobrand; Kotsyuba beat Indya Nespor of Cal State Fullerton 7-5, 6-2; and Mihaljevic dropped a 6-1, 6-4 set to Sheena Masuda of LBSU.

"They definitely improved from the last tournament. I think entering our last day they had a great showing," Tran said. "We finished the weekend strong and beat some tough opponents. I thought we had strong presence at the tournament. It was great to see Radka and Sarka win their flight, and then Lucia, as well. We had a tough loss in doubles, but I'm overall pleased with the team and how they showed this weekend."

Colorado State's return trip home will be short as the team leaves Tuesday to begin play in the ITA Mountain Regionals on Wednesday in Las Vegas. That tournament runs through the weekend.

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