Ware, Beckman and Valimaki advance in ITA Regionals

PROVO, Utah — BYU’s Savannah Ware, Taylah Beckman and Erica Valimaki advanced after the first round of singles play at the ITA Regionals Championships held at the campus of UNLV, Thursday. 

“I was happy with how well we fought in our matches today,” BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “We didn’t necessarily play our best tennis but we were able to pull out wins by digging in.” 

BYU’s Ware defeated Elisa Koonik of Wyoming 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, while fellow junior Valimaki defeated Air Force’s Mary Meyers 6-0, 3-6, 6-2 . Freshman Taylah Beckman was also victorious, defeating Idaho’s Rita Bermudez 7-6, 6-2. 

Ware also advanced in doubles play, combining with sophomore Brittanie Eraso to defeat Agata Bacahenk and Kristi Elmer of Weber State 8-2. 

Also participating for the Cougars in the tournament were juniors Toby Miclat and Demi Daniels. Miclat fell in a closely contested match 5-7, 7-5, 6-4 to Andrea Leblanc of the University of New Mexico, while Daniels was defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Ash Shrivastava of New Mexico State.