USAFA, Colo. – The University of Denver women's tennis team wrapped up the first day of the Bedford Cup in the Mountains, hosted by the Air Force Academy, with 11 combined wins on Friday.
 
Leading the way was freshman Yunfei Cai, who collected two three-set victories in the singles Charley Draw to book her spot in the semifinals. In both matches, she rallied after dropping a tight first set to win the final two frames – including with two 6-0 6-0 sets in the quarterfinals.
 
Two more Pioneers joined Cai in the Charley Draw quarters with sophomore Natálie Cinková and senior Hana Bečirovič Novak also winning their first matches in three sets. Cinkova started her quarterfinal with a 6-3 win but ultimately lost the match while Bečirovič Novak fell in straight sets.
 
Redshirt freshman Remy Nguyen split results on the day in the Echo Flight, starting with a 6-2 6-4 win in her first singles match for Denver before dropping a straight-sets match later in the afternoon. Fellow redshirt freshman Natali Jaiani fell in her Denver singles debut in the round of 16 in the Delta Draw but responded with a straight-sets win in a consolation match.
 
After dropping her opening singles match in the Alpha Draw, senior Louise Wikander rebounded with wins in two tight sets in her first consolation match. Her doubles partner, fellow senior Claudia Martinez de Velasco lost both of her singles matches.
 
In one of the day's biggest battles, senior transfer Zoe Adkins played her first match for Denver in a back-and-forth contest that ran three hours and came down to a third-set tiebreak, narrowly won by her opponent, 7-5. She followed it up by splitting the first two sets again in her second singles match but came out victorious this time with a 10-6 win in the match tiebreak.
 
Freshman Ruby Hansen, too, made her collegiate debut on Friday, falling in two sets in her first match. She was set to play a consolation match later in the day, but her opponent handed Hansen a walkover due to injury.
 
Senior Marley Lambert was only able to play the first five games of her singles opener before retiring with an injury.
 
In doubles, the teams of Adkins/Hansen and Jaiani/Nguyen captured wins – the former with a bagel, and the latter in a tight 7-5 set. Adkins/Hansen will play in the Red Draw quarterfinals on Saturday morning while Jaiani/Nguyen will continue play in the round robin-style Green Draw.
 
The Bedford Cup continues on Saturday with singles semifinals, and doubles quarterfinals and semifinals. Matches are set to begin at 9:15 a.m. MT.
 
FRIDAY'S DOUBLES RESULTS
BLUE DRAW
Round of 16: Caves/Morgan (Colorado State) def. Martinez de Velasco/Wikander: 6-3
Round of 16: Kojonroj/VanHouweling (Air Force) def. Cai/Lambert: 6-3
 
RED DRAW
Round of 16: Nelson/Van Der Werff (Colorado) def. Bečirovič Novak/Cinková: 6-4
Round of 16: Adkins/Hansen def. Nunez Pureco/Sperry (Utah State): 6-0
 
GREEN DRAW
R1: Jaiani/Nguyen def. Matsoukatidi/Petre (New Mexico):  7-5
 
FRIDAY'S SINGLES RESULTS
ALPHA DRAW
Round of 16: Ella Brownback (Texas Tech) def. Louise Wikander: 6-3 6-4
Round of 16: Pia Rebec (Colorado) def. Marley Lambert: 5-0 ret.
Round of 16: Polina Sleptsova (Texas Tech) def. Zoe Adkins: 2-6 6-3 7-6(5)
Consolation: Louise Wikander def. Terezia Mlkva (Utah State): 7-5 7-6(6)
Consolation: Zoe Adkins def. Stefanya Shalakova (Idaho State): 4-6 6-4 [10-6]
 
BRAVO DRAW
Round of 16: Chaeyule Kang (Air Force) def. Claudia Martinez de Velasco: 6-2 6-1
Consolation: Xenia Logvin (Texas Tech) def. Claudia Martinez de Velasco: 6-0 6-0
 
CHARLEY DRAW
Round of 16: Yunfei Cai def. Mariam Hatem (Idaho): 5-7 6-2 6-1
Round of 16: Hana Bečirovič Novak def. Lea Malazdra (New Mexico): 6-4 3-6 6-1
Round of 16: Natálie Cinková def. Madlena Orlova (Wyoming): 6-3 4-6 6-3
Quarterfinal: Yunfei Cai def. Eugenia Ceinos (Wyoming): 6-7(3) 6-0 6-0
Quarterfinal: Silver Bijlsma (Wyoming) def. Hana Bečirovič Novak: 6-4 6-3
Quarterfinal: Jessica Matthews (Idaho) def. Natálie Cinková: 3-6 6-3 6-0
 
DELTA DRAW
Round of 16: Emmy Richards (Idaho State) def. Ruby Hansen: 7-6(4) 6-4
Round of 16: Veronika Zarovna (Idaho State) def. Natali Jaiani: 6-1 2-6 6-3
Consolation: Ruby Hansen def. Dilnaz Mashabayeva (Wyoming): WO inj.
Consolation: Natali Jaiani def. Dylan Voeks (Colorado State): 7-5 6-4
 
ECHO DRAW
R1: Remy Nguyen def. Victoria Grymalska (Idaho State): 6-2 6-4
R2: Willow Gretsch (Colorado) def. Remy Nguyen: 6-1 6-2
 
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SATURDAY'S DOUBLES SCHEDULE
BLUE DRAW
Consolation: Martinez de Velasco/Wikander vs. Cotuna/Michalski (Air Force)
Consolation: Cai/Lambert vs. Shalakhova/Shoybek (Idaho State)
 
RED DRAW
Quarterfinal: Adkins/Hansen vs. Morris/Richards (Idaho State)
Consolation: Bečirovič NovakCinková vs. Mavor/Selvan (Air Force)
 
GREEN DRAW
R2: Jaiani/Nguyen vs. Kang/Rhoades (Air Force)
 
SATURDAY'S SINGLES SCHEDULE
ALPHA DRAW
Consolation: Louise Wikander vs. Arianna VanHouweling (Air Force)
Consolation: Zoe Adkins vs. Nadia Kojonroj (Air Force)
 
BRAVO DRAW
Consolation: Claudia Martinez de Velasco vs. Sarah L'allier (New Mexico)
 
CHARLEY DRAW
Semifinal: Yunfei Cai vs. Abigale Cotuna (Air Force)
Consolation: Hana Bečirovič Novak vs. Natálie Cinková
 
DELTA DRAW
Consolation: Ruby Hansen vs. Ramona Petre (New Mexico)
Consolation: Natali Jaiani vs. Soha Singh (Idaho)
 
ECHO FLIGHT
R3: Remy Nguyen vs. Carissa Holguin (Air Force)