Hawaii tennis: Petra Melounova makes NCAA sweet 16
![](https://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/0520ZR_0167PM-e1558473261258.jpg)
UPDATE: After a blistering start, Petra Melounova could not keep it going in the NCAA round of 16 on Wednesday. She jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 1 on Texas Tech’s Felicity Maltby — only to see Maltby rattle off 12 straight games. Maltby prevailed 7-5, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Melounova will go into her senior year with the only three NCAA singles wins in program history (two as a junior, one as a freshman).
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Petra Melounova is breaking serves and breaking new ground.
The Hawaii tennis junior advanced to the NCAA tournament round of 16 with a straight-sets win over Michigan’s Chiara Lommer at the USTA Campus in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday morning, becoming the first Rainbow Wahine player to play this far into the 64-player event.
Melounova w/the forehand winner to become the first Rainbow Wahine to advance to the NCAA Championships Sweet 16! #GoPetra #GoBows🌈🎾 pic.twitter.com/cZ2ZCgVtrj
— U. of Hawai‘i Tennis (@UofHawaiiTennis) May 21, 2019
Melounova, who has thrived with her heavy groundstrokes despite an unconventional underhanded serve, came back from an 0-2 hole in Set 1 to take it 6-4, then broke Lommer’s serve twice in jumping out to a 5-0 lead in Set 2 and finishing it off at 6-1.
On Wednesday, the 61st-ranked Melounova faces Texas Tech’s Felicity Maltby, who is ranked No. 22. The match time is to be announced by the NCAA. UPDATE: Melounova’s match will be at or slightly after 6 p.m. local time, so noon Hawaii time. It should be televised live on the Tennis Channel.
Here’s the updated bracket:
#HawaiiWTEN's Petra Melounova will be playing at 12:00 p.m. HT on Court 2 in the NCAA Women's Singles Championships Round of 16 on Wednesday. Here's the updated NCAA bracket pic.twitter.com/wqGfJjYj4c
— U. of Hawai‘i Tennis (@UofHawaiiTennis) May 22, 2019
The last Big West player to reach the round of 16 was UC Santa Barbara’s Jean Okada in 1996.
Congrats to Melounova, going where no other UH women’s tennis player has gone before. It’s a shame that tennis is such a small sport, especially at the women’s collegiate level. Bet not a lot of people are even aware that the tournament is happening right now. Regardless, best of luck to her tomorrow, Go Bows!!!
Go Petra! Brian, thanks for sharing and updating us. 🙂
Good game Petra! Just play beautiful tennis.