SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Oct. 11, 2017) – Three individuals and two doubles teams had a strong showing, advancing to the next round to begin the 2017 ITA Mountain Regional Championships on Wednesday in Salt Lake City.
 
"We fought through a few matches today with some tough elements and normal first round jitters," head coach Dean Clower said. "I was proud of the way we came out early and played our style of doubles
 
In doubles play, senior Magdalena Stencel and sophomore Milka Genkova defeated Mercedes Lopez and Jovana Kenic of UNLV 8-4, followed by an 8-3 win for freshman Harsha Challa and sophomore Ana Tkachenko over Madison Fenske and Megan Poe of Idaho State. Juniors Elisa Koonik and Tessa van Der Ploeg had a first round bye and will be on the court tomorrow.
 
Three out of five Cowgirls won their first round singles matches. Tkachenko defeated Hermehr Kaur of BYU, 7-5, 6-2, while Genkova dropped just one game in her 6-1, 6-0 win against Catherine Orfanos.  Koonik also moved on with a straight set win, 6-3, 6-4, over Mikala Lowrance of Southern Utah. Challa dropped a tough three-set match, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, against Eli Arnaudova of New Mexico State, while van Der Ploeg fell to Maggie O'Meara of Utah State, 6-4, 6-3.  Stencel had a first round bye.
       
Play will continue tomorrow with the round of 64 and 32 in singles and the round of 32 in doubles play.