Fresno State Athletics
Watts Beats No. 6 Tournament Seed.
9/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
By: Kimberly Fisher
kimfisher@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
Los Angeles, Calif. - The Fresno State women's tennis team concluded the first day at the 2014 Riviera/ITA All-American Championship Tournament at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Tuesday evening.
The two-day long qualifying round began on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in which junior Sophie Watts was slated to a singles matchup with UCLA and paired with twin sister Anneka Watts in doubles play against North Carolina.
The `Dogs faced tough competition on Tuesday with UCLA coming off a 2013 NCAA National Championship victory and North Carolina trailing not far behind as the runner up.
A long day of competition turned out to be rewarding for the Bulldogs as Sophie Watts defeated No. 27 Kyle McPhillips of UCLA (7-6(1),4-6,6-2) in the first round of qualifying singles.
"After eight hours of battle, Sophie managed to pull off a huge win against the number six seed," head coach Ryan Stotland said. "I am very proud of both Sophie and Anneka's performance, it was a great day of competition."
McPhillips was named a Singles All-American, awarded the PAC-12 Freshman of the Year and concluded her first season at UCLA as the second-highest ranked singles player at No. 17. Philips help lead the Bruins to a national title by clinching a 4-3 win against North Carolina.
Coming off a huge win against UCLA, Sophie Watts was defeated by Despoina Vogasari of Houston in the second round of qualifying singles (2-6,7-6(9),6-2).
The Watts twins fell to North Carolina's Kate Vialle and Ashley Dai, 6-7(7),6-3,10-7 in doubles play.
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