SPOKANE, Wash. – The Portland women's tennis team performed well on day one of the Gonzaga Invitational Friday at the Stevens Center. The Pilots went a combined 5-3 in both singles and doubles play to open the tournament.

Portland excelled in doubles to start the day and will have a pair of teams in their respective semifinal draws. Iva Zelic and Marija Elenova cruised through the opening two matches of the top flight draw and will next face the No. 1 seed from Washington in Saturday's semifinals.

Rimona Rouf and Jana Tanevska pulled out two close wins to reach the semi's of the 'Red Draw'. The duo will take on a team from Gonzaga in their next match.

"It was a solid first day across the board," Portland head coach Filip Zivkovic said. "We started out playing some great doubles in all four matches and the execution was there, which was great to see."

In the top flight singles draw, top-seeded Iva Zelic and freshman Sally Pethybridge both advanced in straight sets. Zelic will meet Washington's Hikaru Sato on Saturday, while Pethybridge faces second-seeded Uxia Martinez Moral of Oregon in the other side of the draw.

"Iva had a solid win today in singles," Zivkovic added. "She played a player who wasn't giving her any free points and she handled adversity very well. Sally continued to roll with confidence and had the most convincing win of the day."

Freshman Aleksandra Dimitrijevic and Rimona Rouf also moved on in the 'Singles Red Draw'. Dimitrijevic, the draw's top seed, will face Yolanda Lin of Washington next, while Rouf meets Ivayla Mitkova of Montana.

"Alexsandra needed a set to find her rhythm but got really loose after taking the first set and played her best tennis of the fall," noted Zivkovic. "Today's biggest highlight came from Rimona who continues to impress us with her development. She beat a very good Washington player in one of the best matches of the day in this tournament. She is playing at a very high level and it's very exciting to see her continued growth."

Jana Tanevska advanced in the 'Green Draw' with a comfortable straight sets win and will next play Jazmin Lerman of Montana State, while Marija Elenova dropped a heartbreaker to Gonzaga's Kianna Oda in a third set super tiebreaker.

"Marija was in a position to win against one of the top players from Gonzaga," Zivkovic said. "She played her best match of the Fall and just came up short.

"We have shown a lot of growth today and it is great to see this young group develop and improve with every opportunity."

The tournament continues with two more rounds of singles on Saturday and will conclude with the remaining doubles and championship singles on Sunday.

Gonzaga Invitational
Spokane, Wash. (Stevens Center)
Nov. 5-7, 2021

Singles – Blue
16 (1) Iva Zelic (POR) def. Ines Oliveira (UI) 7-5, 6-2
16 Sally Pethybridge (POR) def. Melissa Huchet (UI) 6-1, 6-2
QF (1) Zelic (POR) vs. Hikaru Sato (WASH) Saturday
QF Pethybridge (POR) vs. (2) Uxia Martinez Moral (UO) Saturday

Singles – Purple
16 Allison Mulville (UO) def. Neli Sunjic (POR) 7-5, 6-0
16 Kianna Oda (GON) def. Marija Elenova (POR) 6-7 (4), 6-1, 1-0 (7)
C Sunjic (POR) vs. Lola O'Lideadha (ISU) Saturday
C Elenova (POR) vs. Lauren Dunlap (UM) Saturday

Singles – Red
16 (1) Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (POR) def. Alex Arkhipov (ISU) 7-6 (5), 6-0
16 Rimona Rouf (POR) def. (2) Ashley Chang (WASH) 7-6 (4), 6-4
QF (1) Dimitrijevic (POR) vs. Yolanda Lin (WASH) Saturday
QF Rouf (POR) vs. Ivayla Mitkova (UM) Saturday

Singles – Green
16 Jana Tanevska (POR) def. Jayanne Palma (UI) 6-3, 6-0
QF Adriene Pavek (ISU) def. Annika Alcon (POR) 6-2, 6-2
QF Tanevska (POR) vs. (2) Jazmin Lerman (MSU) Saturday

Doubles – Blue
16 Zelic/Elenova (POR) def. Gould/Pavek (ISU) 6-0
16 Dunlap/Sterk (UM) def. Pethybridge/Dimitrijevic (POR) 6-4
QF Zelic/Elenova (POR) def. Lawrence/Mann (MSU/EWU) 6-2
C Pethybridge/Dimitrijevic (POR) def. Oliveira/Palma (UI) 6-3
SF Zelic/Elenova (POR) vs. (1) Sato/Chilton (WASH) Sunday

Doubles – Red
16 Rouf/Tanevska (POR) def. Mitkova/Oosterbaan (UM) 7-5
16 Aitken/Oda (GON) def. Sunjic/Alcon (POR) 7-6 (3)
QF Rouf/Tanevska (POR) def. Kida/Foshee (EWU) 6-4
C L. O'Lideadha/S. O'Lideadha (ISU) def. Sunjic/Alcon (POR) 6-4
SF Rouf/Tanevska (POR) vs. Wernli/Laursen (GON) Sunday