Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
WTEN | Magical Run Ends in Sweet 16 for Kozyreva
5/25/2022 1:55:00 PM | Women's Tennis
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – An amazing run by Mariia Kozyreva at the NCAA National Championships came to an end on Wednesday morning after a loss in three sets to No. 7 Eryn Cayentano of USC.
After dropping the first set 6-1, Kozyreva fought to a 6-6 tie in the second set. Kozyreva trailed early in the tie breaker but came back to win it 7-5. The third set started off as a back-and-forth battle before Cayentano pulled away late for a 6-3 win, taking the match 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-3.
"Masha gave it everything and came up just short," Head Coach Simon Harston said after his last official match as Head Coach of the Gaels. "That happens in sports. The margins between winning and losing at this level are so minute, and today she was just a fraction off."
No. 43 Kozyreva defeated the No. 31 and 35 players in the country to reach the sweet 16, matching the furthest a women's tennis player from Saint Mary's has advanced in the NCAA Championships.
"The NCAA Tournament was a great way to round off a historic collegiate career for Masha," Harston added. "She should be proud of today's match, this week's matches, and her whole career at Saint Mary's. Masha won a lot, lost occasionally, but more than anything she never stopped trying. That's what I'll always remember."
Kozyreva finishes the season 25-7 after the tournament and was again named to the All-WCC First Team in singles and doubles. The only time she didn't make the All-WCC First Team was when she made All-WCC Second Team as a freshman.
The Saint-Petersburg, Russia native became just the second SMC Women's Tennis Player to reach the NCAA Sweet 16 and the first since Jenny Jullien in 2014.
"Masha" made the doubles tournament in 2019 with her partner Hind Abdelouahid, and would have participated in the singles competition on two different occasions if they were interrupted by COVID-19.
The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic and she wasn't able to qualify last season despite an 11-1 record in the spring since she didn't play in the fall, and thus didn't have enough wins against ranked opponents.
Kozyreva received the WCC's at-large bid after going 23-6 overall this season with wins over the #2 and #9 players in the country in Abigail Forbes of UCLA and WCC Tournament Champion Shiroi Fukuda of Pepperdine. The win over Fukuda netted her a WCC Player of the Week Award and she finished the season ranked No. 43 in the nation.
This season alone she advanced to the ITA National Fall Championship Quarterfinals, the ITA Division-I Northwest Regional Semifinals, and defeated the No. 1 seed at the KPSF Open in San Francisco, Sai-Sai Zheng from China, who was ranked No. 75 in the world at the time.
#GaelsRise
After dropping the first set 6-1, Kozyreva fought to a 6-6 tie in the second set. Kozyreva trailed early in the tie breaker but came back to win it 7-5. The third set started off as a back-and-forth battle before Cayentano pulled away late for a 6-3 win, taking the match 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-3.
"Masha gave it everything and came up just short," Head Coach Simon Harston said after his last official match as Head Coach of the Gaels. "That happens in sports. The margins between winning and losing at this level are so minute, and today she was just a fraction off."
No. 43 Kozyreva defeated the No. 31 and 35 players in the country to reach the sweet 16, matching the furthest a women's tennis player from Saint Mary's has advanced in the NCAA Championships.
"The NCAA Tournament was a great way to round off a historic collegiate career for Masha," Harston added. "She should be proud of today's match, this week's matches, and her whole career at Saint Mary's. Masha won a lot, lost occasionally, but more than anything she never stopped trying. That's what I'll always remember."
Kozyreva finishes the season 25-7 after the tournament and was again named to the All-WCC First Team in singles and doubles. The only time she didn't make the All-WCC First Team was when she made All-WCC Second Team as a freshman.
The Saint-Petersburg, Russia native became just the second SMC Women's Tennis Player to reach the NCAA Sweet 16 and the first since Jenny Jullien in 2014.
"Masha" made the doubles tournament in 2019 with her partner Hind Abdelouahid, and would have participated in the singles competition on two different occasions if they were interrupted by COVID-19.
The 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic and she wasn't able to qualify last season despite an 11-1 record in the spring since she didn't play in the fall, and thus didn't have enough wins against ranked opponents.
Kozyreva received the WCC's at-large bid after going 23-6 overall this season with wins over the #2 and #9 players in the country in Abigail Forbes of UCLA and WCC Tournament Champion Shiroi Fukuda of Pepperdine. The win over Fukuda netted her a WCC Player of the Week Award and she finished the season ranked No. 43 in the nation.
This season alone she advanced to the ITA National Fall Championship Quarterfinals, the ITA Division-I Northwest Regional Semifinals, and defeated the No. 1 seed at the KPSF Open in San Francisco, Sai-Sai Zheng from China, who was ranked No. 75 in the world at the time.
#GaelsRise
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