Stanford, Calif. – Junior Hana Abdelhamid led the way for the Portland State Women's Tennis team on the first day of the ITA Northwest Regionals with a 3-0 record Thursday. Abdelhamid won twice in the east qualifying singles bracket and once in the main doubles bracket.
 
In singles, Abdelhamid knocked out Gonzaga's Ella Nielsen in three sets after an intense comeback after losing the first set, 6-2. She won the second set in a tiebreak to win 7-6 (1) and won 6-4 in the third to win the match. Abdelhamid comfortably dismantled the sixth seed, University of Portland's Maria Galatescu, as well, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, to make her way to the round of 64 in the main singles draw. She'll play Saint Mary's Stella Remander in the main draw tomorrow.
 
Freshman Nikhitha Suresh also advanced to the main singles draw with two wins in the east qualifying bracket Thursday. She won a first-set tiebreaker en route to a straight-sets victory over University of the Pacific's Leyanne Hirota, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in her opening match of the day. She then pulled out a three-set win over Sacramento State's Darya Savina, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to advance to tomorrow's play. She'll face eighth-seeded Chrisato Kanemaki from Washington State in her next match.
 
In the main doubles draw, the all-conference doubles duo of Abdelhamid and Marta Giglio once again showed out after a great performance last week at the Big Sky Individual Championship. Giglio and Abdelhamid took down The University of the Pacific's Rayna Sugai and Maya Shanok, 8-5. They will now face a ninth-seeded Saint Mary's team featuring Remander and Priya Nelson in the round of 32. That match is scheduled for 9 a.m. tomorrow. 
 
The Vikings came out in force for doubles, fielding four duos. The freshmen duo of Suresh and Sofiia Ziukyna narrowly lost to Saint Mary's Kei Kato and Mina Koloski in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (3). Senior Scarlett Perkins and sophomore Stoney Cooks fell just short of victory, as well, losing 8-7 (5) to the University of Portland's Karina Kiss and Gaja Djurickovic. Juniors Kasumi Hirayama and Nene Uemura were eliminated by another University of Portland duo in Maria Galatescu and Emily Velasco, 8-4. 
 
Back in singles, Ziukyna dropped only three games in her first-round victory over Saint Mary's Mina Koloski, winning 6-2, 6-1. She challenged Oregon's Hadley Appling in her next match, but fell, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
 
 Hirayama forced a third set against Gonzaga's Aisulu Zholbolat with a 7-5 victory in the second, but ultimately fell, 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.
 
Giglio didn't play a singles match Thursday, instead earning a bye into the main singles draw. She'll open her singles play at 1 p.m. Friday against Kato from Saint Mary's.
 
It'll make for a busy day for Abdelhamid, Gigilio and Suresh, but that's how any of them would have drawn it up at the start of Thursday.
 
Western Regional Championships Day 1 Results
Singles - East Qualifying Draw
Round of 64 
Hana Abdelhamid (Portland State) def. Ella Nielsen (Gonzaga), 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4,
Nikhitha Suresh (Portland State) def. Leyanne Hirota (Pacific), 7-6 (4), 6-3
No. 8. Chisato Kanemaki (Washington State) def. Stoney Cooks (Portland State), 6-1, 6-4
Sofiia Ziukyna (Portland State) def. Mina Koloski (St Mary's), 6-2, 6-1
Emily Velasco (Portland) def. No. 9. Scarlett Perkins (Portland State) 6-2, 2-1, retired
No. 9. Aisulu Zholbolat (Gonzaga) def. Kasumi Hirayama (Portland State) 6-3, 5-7, 6-0
Abi Anderson (Portland) def. Nene Uemura (Portland State) 6-4, 6-3
Round of 32
Hana Abdelhamid (Portland State) def. No. 6 Maria Galatescu (Portland), 6-3, 7-5
Nikhitha Suresh (Portland State) def. Darya Savina (Sacramento State), 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
No. 9 Hadley Appling (Oregon) def. Sofiia Ziukyna (Portland State), 6-2, 7-6 (2)
Doubles - Main Draw
Abdelhamid/Giglio (Portland State) def. Sugai/Shanok (Pacific), 8-5
Kato/Koloski (St. Mary's) def. Suresh/Ziukyna (Portland State), 8-7 (3)
Galatescu/Velasco (Portland) def. Hirayama/Uemura (Portland State), 8-4
Djurickovic/Kiss (Portland) def. Cooks/Perkins (Portland State) 8-7 (5)