Draws/Results: USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Madison Clarke and Chelby Cooke won their opening two singles matches to lead the Santa Clara women's tennis team during Friday's action at the USTA/ITA Northwest Regional Championships.
Clarke, a freshman, reached Saturday's round of 32 by knocking off seventh-seeded Krista Hardebeck of host Stanford 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Hardebeck, a senior, is ranked No. 68 nationally this fall, but has been in the top 10 during her career. Clarke posted a 7-5, 6-3 victory against Marine Dans of San Jose State in the opening round.
"Madison played a fantastic match against Hardebeck," head coach Ben Cabell said. "It's great sign of things to come for her."
The five-day tournament, which is being held at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium, began Friday and features a 128-player singles field and a 64 pairs of doubles. In addition to the Broncos and Stanford, the field is comprised of entries from California, Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Gonzaga, Oregon, Pacific, Portland, Portland State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, San Jose State, Seattle, UC Davis, Washington and Washington State.
Cooke reached the final 32 by posting a 7-6(3), 6-2 straight sets win vs. Emma Critser of Saint Mary's in the second round. But Cooke took three sets to dispatch of Washington State's Victoria Matejevic in the opening round. Cooke needed a tiebreak in the final set to upend Matejevic 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(2).
Cooke also teamed with Daniella Silva in doubles to reach the round of 32. That duo knocked off San Francisco's Shanna Dos Santos and Gen McCloskey, 8-6. Cooke and Silva will face fifth-seeded Donika Bashota and Lize Leenknecht of Washington State at 9 a.m. Saturday.
"Overall we played well today, especially with the quality of teams in this region," said head coach Ben Cabell. "We are making good progress."
Clarke and Nabila Farah were not able to duplicate the success of Cooke and Silva in doubles. Yuki Asami and Cristina Saenz De Buruaga of Pacific edged Clarke and Farah, 8-7(3).
At 10 a.m. Saturday, Cooke will face ninth-seeded Sophia Whittle of Gonzaga at 10 a.m. Saturday, while Clarke meets Stephane Lin of Cal.
