Co-hosts WVU and Marshall dominated at the Thunder in the Mountains tournament this weekend, taking all four semifinal spots out of 10 competitors.
West Virginia sent four players to the event while three represented Marshall. The hosts clashed in three matches in round one, with WVU seeing two wins, both from freshman Laura Villanueva Morillo, and senior Emma Vanderheyden winning the other for Marshall over junior Maja Dodik.
The four remaining tournament spots were taken by high school students, all of whom fell to Mountaineers in round one.
Maryland high school senior Ruhika Bhat took on senior and former Missouri Valley Conference Doubles Champion, Mille Haagensen, who came to WVU from Drake during the transfer period. Bhat held her own, but Haagensen left with the win, 6-2, (7) 7-6.
Dodik and Senior Michaela Kucharova both battled local high schoolers in round one. Kucharova narrowly defeated Lyla Byers, a student at University High School in Morgantown, 6-4, (4) 6-7 (7), 11-9, while Dodik took down South Charleston student Nadia Orcutt 6-0, 6-1.
Despite Dodik’s win over Byers, her loss to Vanderheyden took her out of the semifinal round, leaving Haagensen to play Vanderheyden and Kucharova to take on her own teammate in Villanueva Morillo.
The freshman Villanueva Morillo was victorious in the battle of Mountaineers, defeating the four-year WVU veteran Kucharova 6-4, 6-4. In the finals, though, Villanueva Morillo did not have the luxury of facing a teammate.
Vanderheyden defeated Haagensen convincingly in the semifinals, winning 6-4, 6-3. In the finals, the Belgian senior proved too powerful once again for the Mountaineers, defeating Villanueva Morillo 6-1, 1-6, 10-8 in her toughest match of the weekend.
West Virginia will continue its fall tournament season this Friday, hosting the Martha Thorn Invitational in Morgantown. Rounds will take place throughout the weekend from Oct. 4 through Oct. 6.
Photo from WVU Tennis
