Brown, Bouillin advance to second round at ITAs

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's tennis team put up its best performance ever at the ITA Regionals, advancing to the second round in both the main singles and doubles draws for the first time in program history over the weekend in New Haven, Conn.

Sophomore Ryan Brown (Austin, Texas) advanced to the second round of the ITA Regional Championships over the weekend with a first round win over Ungurean-Halagian of Saint Peter's, 6-1, 7-5, before falling to Hannah Camhi of Brown University, 7-5, 6-3, in the second round.

Against Camhi, Brown narrowly captured the first set, but the Ivy Leaguer made clutch shots at the right time, minimizing her errors en route to the two-set victory. Despite the second round loss, Brown's victory in the first set marked the first win for Bryant women's tennis in the main singles draw at the ITAs.

In doubles action, Brown and partner Marion Bouillin (San Diego, Calif.) drew a seeded UConn tandem of Srna Stosljevic and Maxene Weinberg. After finding themselves down 3-1 early, the Bulldog duo used an aggressive net game to win five-straight sets to open up a 6-3 edge over the Huskies. After dropping one more set, Brown and Bouillin buckled down to take the match with the final two points, advancing to the second round of the Main Doubles Draw for the second-straight season.

In the second round, Bryant ran into a very talented tandem from St. John's, Anastasia Polyakova and Irinia Preotescu, who jumped out to a 7-1 advantage and never looked back, taking the match, 8-3.

"This year was our best performance at the ITAs, advancing to round two in both doubles and singles," said Bryant head coach Barbara Cilli. "Now, we get ready for the spring."

The Bulldogs open spring competition on Saturday, Feb. 7 vs. Brandeis at Rally Point.