ATHENS, Ga. - Boise State senior Pichittra Thongdach recorded the biggest win of her career with a victory over No. 10 Denise Dy of Washington in the round of 64 Wednesday at 2010 NCAA Women's Tennis Individual Championships.
Entering this week, Thongdach had never earned a win over a top-15 opponent throughout her collegiate career. That changed on Wednesday, however, as No. 49 ranked Thongdach fought her way to a third set win over Dy to advance to the round of 32.
Dy raced out to a 6-2 advantage in the first set. Thongdach rebounded with a huge 6-1 second set victory. With a spot in the round of 32 on the line, Thongdach then rolled to a 6-1 third set win to secure the 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Dy.
With the win, Thongdach improves to 31-15 overall this season in singles with a 13-5 record in tournament competition. She now faces No. 47 Ellah Nze of Duke in the tournament's second round tomorrow.
Singles won't be the only thing on Thongdach's mind on Thursday, as she is also set to kickoff the 32-team doubles tournament with teammate Lauren Megale. The No. 45-ranked pair will meet No. 17 Alexa Guarachi and Courtney McLane of Alabama in the first round.
Elsewhere in the WAC, Fresno State senior Anastasia Petukhova fell in straight sets (7-5, 6-0) to No. 50 Micaela Hein of Arizona State. The match concluded Petukhova's senior year and her illustrious college career.
Petukhova ended her career No. 3 on the Fresno State career wins list with 108 career victories. She was first team all-WAC in both singles and doubles three times. She comprised one half of the 2009 ITA National Doubles Team of the Year with teammate Renata Kucerkova.
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