(St. George, Utah – Nov. 8, 2023) - The Utah Tech women's tennis team wraps up the fall season this weekend traveling to the UNLV Watanabe Classic at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS: Individuals from UNLV, Utah Tech, Long Beach State, UTSA and Northern Arizona starting Friday at 11 a.m. MT.

PARTICIPATING TRAILBLAZERS: Kylie Kezos, Ana Gutierrez Sampere, Mariana Zurita, Annemiek Sterk, Olivia Bustos, Laura Coulome, Raquel Roshak

LOOK AT WATANABE CLASSIC: The annual fall invitational was renamed in 2021 to honor former UNLV great Jolene Watanabe, who put the UNLV women's tennis program on the map three decades ago and passed away in 2019 after a battle with cancer at the age of 50.

A native of La Puente, California, Watanabe ("wah-tah-NAH-bee"), who holds the distinction of being the first Rebel to forge a successful career on the professional tennis tour, played in Las Vegas from 1987-90 and left as the program's career leader in singles victories with 120 and doubles wins with 84.

Winner of the Big West Conference Player of the Year Award in 1990, Watanabe became the first UNLV women's player to qualify for the NCAA singles championship that same year. She retired in 2001 after an 11-year career on the WTA circuit. Having reached at least the second round in all four Grand Slam events, her tournament championships came throughout the world from Italy to Mexico. Watanabe reached as high as No. 72 in singles and 142 in doubles.

2023 UNLV Watanabe Classic Schedule 

• Friday - Doubles Quarterfinals followed by Singles Quarterfinals
  • Flight 1 Doubles: Mariana Berdecio/Annemiek Sterk vs. Hu/Zhao (UNLV)
  • Flight 2 Doubles: Olivia Bustos/Laura Coulome vs. Bye
  • Flight 2 Doubles: Ana Gutierrez Sampere/Kylie Kezos vs. Youri/Beyebach (UTSA)
  • Flight 1 Singles: Ana Gutierrez Sampere vs. Salsa Aher (UNLV)
  • Flight 2 Singles: Mariana Berdecio vs. Daryna Shoshyna (Northern Arizona)
  • Flight 2 Singles: Annemiek Sterk vs. Peppi Ramstedt (Long Beach State)
  • Flight 3 Singles: Kylie Kezos vs. Hana Novak (LBSU)
  • Flight 3 Singles: Olivia Bustos vs. Nikol Mircheva (UNLV)
  • Flight 4 Singles: Laura Coulome vs. Aura Fang (UNLV)
  • Flight 4 Singles: Raquel Roshak vs. Mathilde Tranberg (LBSU)
• Saturday - Doubles Semifinals followed by Singles Semifinals
• Sunday - Doubles Final followed by Singles Finals

LOOK BACK AT ITA MOUNTAIN REGIONALS: The Trailblazers earned a pair of wins in singles (Adithi Venkatakrishnan & Kylie Kezos) and one in the doubles (Kylie Kezos & Ana Guiterrez Sampre) at the ITA Mountain Regionals hosted by Utah in Salt Lake City on Oct. 18-21.

LOOK BACK AT IDAHO STATE FALL INVITATIONAL: The Trailblazers are coming off making their fall debut at the Idaho State Fall Invitational on Sept. 8-10 in Pocatello.

In the Orange Singles Draw, sophomore Adithi Venkatakrishnan and freshman Mariana Zurita both picked up victories in that bracket.
  
In the Doubles "A" Draw, the duo of senior Ya-Chi Hsu and Venkatakrishnan bounced back from a first round loss to advance to the Consolation final, while the tandem of Rachel Mellor and Mariana Zurita won their first match, but the duo was eliminated in the Championship Bracket semifinals. 
 
In the Doubles "B" Draw, the freshman team of Ana Gutierrez Sampere and Olivia Bustos bounced back from a first round loss with two victories to win the Consolation Bracket title.

2023-24 ROSTER: The 2023-24 roster consists of 11 student-athletes with four freshman, three sophomores, one junior and three seniors.

Seven Trailblazers are from outside of the United States while four Blazers hail from the States. 

2023 IN REVIEW: Utah Tech went 2-19 in dual action in the spring season with a pair of 7-0 wins over Eastern Arizona. The Trailblazers went 0-9 in WAC action and took Seattle to seven points at home on March 26 falling to the Redhawks, 4-3.