LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The ITA/USTA Regional was a great training ground for Biola's men and women's tennis teams on Thursday and Friday. It was short lived for most of the team's competitors, but it provided an opportunity to shake off the rust, get back on the court and start working on some team chemistry.
 
Susan Carmichael and Kathryn Ashford had the most success as a doubles pairing, winning their first two matches, including a win over the No. 1 seeded pairing in the tournament.
 
Carmichael and Ashford made quick work of their opponents in their first match on Friday evening, defeating the duo from Hope International, 8-0. That setup a match the next afternoon with Grace Davis and Maria Rivera from Westmont.
 
Biola's best doubles duo took that matchup 9-8 following a 7-4 win in the tiebreak. This moved them ahead to a semifinal matchup with a duo from Concordia almost immediately after.
 
Kathrine Jensen and Caitlyn Uzzi entered this semifinal match following an 8-5 win in their match and used that added freshness to end the tournament run for Ashford and Carmichael.
 
That pair was the only Biola duo to win a match in doubles play, as most pairings ended their run at the on Thursday.
 
Both of the men's pairings had close matches, but fell to their opponents, 8-5.
 
All of the men's singles players went without a match win as well. Tayven Townsend was the only men's player to move on to a match on Friday following a first-round bye.
 
"It was a tough tournament, as we were the only school not to win a match," said Men's Head Coach Brent Worthington. "Overall, I think we competed hard as we had some of the longest matches on the court, but we were unable to win the big points."
 
Joe Turnquist, in his first match for Biola, put forth a solid effort, losing in a 10-7 tiebreak after splitting the first two sets with Antoine Bedard from Arizona Christian.
 
Andrew Greenfield had a similar first experience for the Eagles, also taking on an opponent from ACU and forcing a tiebreak, which was also dropped by a tally of 10-7.
 
In women's singles, Madeline Heer and Kelsey Post joined Carmichael as the only Eagles to win their first round matchup. The three sophomores stole the show for Biola and impressed Women's Head Coach Dee Henry.
 
"The sophomores showed a great deal of growth in their games," said Henry. "Kelsey served well and setup her points well. Maddy was able to take off pace at the appropriate time. Susan used great shot selection to dominate her first opponent."
 
Carmichael  truly did dominate her first opponent, winning in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) over Greer Forseth of ACU. Post had to work a little more to get her victory, when she won two straight after dropping the first set to Alyssa Penner of HIU. Heer had a straight set victory of her own, over another HIU opponent.
 
"It is great to have a chance to compete in an event such as this to recognize where we are in our games and where we need to take our players' games to the next level," said Henry.
 
In between the collegiate tennis action, Henry and the players had time to open the courts up for a time of kids tennis action sponsored by the USTA.
 
The teams return to training now and begin the team season in early 2015.