MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Jacksonville State women's tennis had a handful of players compete in the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic last Friday, Sep. 12, through Sunday, Sep. 14.
Isabella Sambola and
Alba Roche played Andrea Nova and Ichino Horikawa of Ole Miss in doubles on Friday in the first match for the Gamecocks. Nova and Horikawa defeated Roche and Sambola 8-5. In singles, Nova beat Sambola 6-3, 6-4, and Horikawa downed Roche 6-1, 6-1.
Angeles Rodriguez-Rizo and
Sae Kaneko played Iowa State's duo of Julia Camblor and Ashlee Narker on Friday as well. In doubles play, Camblor and Narker beat Rodriguez-Rizo and Kaneko 8-2. Rodriguez-Rizo then fell 7-5, 6-3 to Camblor in singles, while Narker defeated Kaneko 7-5, 6-2.
On Saturday, Sambola and Roche played UAB's Kristyna Damaskova and Klara Kajabova. Sambola and Roche lost 8-2 to Damaskova and Kajabova in doubles. Sambola then fell 6-3, 6-2 to Damaskova in singles, while Kajabova beat Roche 6-4, 6-4.
Also on Saturday, Rodriguez-Rizo and Kaneko lost 8-6 in doubles to LSU's Ioana Sava and Alexia Marginean. Sava played Rodriguez-Rizo in singles in a match she won 6-1, 6-2. Kaneko lost 6-0 in both the first and second sets to Marginean.
On Sunday, the final day of the event, Sambola and Roche lost 8-0 in doubles action to Mississippi State's Alessia Tagliente and Emma Cohen. Sambola took Tagliente to three sets in singles. In the first set, Sambola lost 6-4 before taking the second set 6-2. In the third set, Tagliente clinched the win 7-5 to take the match. Cohen defeated Roche 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).
Rodriguez-Rizo and Kaneko closed out their weekend doubles action with an 8-6 win over Mississippi State's Thessy Ntondele Zinga and Chiara Di Genova. Rordriguez-Rizo then won the first set of singles against Zinga 6-3. Zinga won the second set 6-0. In the third, Zinga clinched the match with a final of 6-4. Kaneko lost 6-3, 6-1 to Di Genova.
Women's tennis moves on to play in the Samford Invitational this weekend. The matches are played Friday, Sep.19, through Sunday, Sep. 21.
To stay up-to-date with the Gamecocks, follow their Facebook (Jax State Women's Tennis), Instagram (@JaxStateWTEN), and X (@JaxStateWTEN) accounts.
