Women's Tennis 9/22/2023 10:19:00 PM Chris Brannick

Pete Komada, Blythe Buntrock Lead UCO

Komada Advances To Round of 16 In Singles And Doubles With Teammate Blythe Buntrock

EDMOND – Pete Komada won a pair of singles matches and another doubles contest with Blythe Buntrock as Central Oklahoma opened the 2023 ITA Central Regional Championships Friday at Edmond Center Court.

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Komada advanced to the Singles A Draw Round of 16 and will try and keep the momentum going Saturday there. The quarterfinals are also scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Sunday. She and Buntrock are also in the Doubles A Draw Round of 16 on Saturday.

Central Oklahoma had four players in the Singles A Draw among the 64-person field competing for a spot in the ITA Cup next month in Georgia. Komada won 6-5, 6-0 over Alexia Zarate Valdez from Harding in her first match. She also beat Missouri Western's Lucia Casas 6-4, 6-4.

Nefeli Zafeiri won her first match, 6-2, 6-3, in a battle with Kristian Kozlova from Henderson State. Zafeiri, a junior, would fall in a three-set fight with Northeastern State's Sandra Mari Marti. After dropping the first set 7-5, Zafeiri won the second 6-4, but she would fall in the tiebreaker, 10-8.

Buntrock won her first singles match 6-2, 6-5 over Henderson State's Angeloa Georgieva. But she also fell in the Round of 32, 6-3, 6-1, to Nebraska Kearney's Narindra Ranaivo.

Anika Ouwejan also competed in the A Draw, but she lost her first match, 6-3, 6-4, to Irina Alfonso from Fort Hays State.

In the Doubles A Draw, beginning in the Round of 32, Komada and Buntrock picked up an 8-5 win over Harding's Grace Dodd and Madison Stafford. Zafeiri and Ouwejan lost 8-3 to Northwest Missouri's Sofia Pignataro and Carolina Lima de Oliveira.

UCO had three more singles in the B Draw, and will have another doubles team in the B Draw Saturday. Friday, after receiving an opening round bye, Karyna Yurchenko and Ayaka Koga both picked up wins to move to the Round of 16. Yurchenko won 6-0, 6-1 over Fort Hays State's Tirzah Bailey. Koga won 6-2, 6-1 over the University of Arkansas Fort Smith's Antonietta Bocache.

Manon Hallemans dropped her first match, 6-4, 6-2, against Newman's Nicole Bono.

Saturday's action begins in the morning with more singles competition before doubles play returns in the afternoon. Central Oklahoma has sent both singles and doubles through to the ITA Cup in each of the last four years.

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Players Mentioned

Blythe Buntrock: 5' 8"; Senior

Pete Komada: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Karyna Yurchenko: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Nefeli Zafeiri: 5' 7"; Junior

Anika Ouwejan: 5' 7"; Freshman

Ayaka Koga: 5' 3"; Freshman

Manon Hallemans: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Blythe Buntrock
: 5' 8"; Senior

Pete Komada
: 5' 5"; Sophomore

Karyna Yurchenko
: 5' 6"; Sophomore

Nefeli Zafeiri
: 5' 7"; Junior

Anika Ouwejan
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Ayaka Koga
: 5' 3"; Freshman

Manon Hallemans
: 5' 3"; Freshman