Photo Gallery (Courtesy of Steve Colquitt - Georgia Sports Communications) 
Updated NCAA Women's Singles Championship Bracket
Updated NCAA Women's Singles Championship First Round Agate

ATHENS, Ga.— University of Hawai'i women's tennis player Petra Melounova became the first Rainbow Wahine to ever earn a win at the NCAA Women's Singles Championships on Wednesday afternoon. She defeated Texas A&M's Rachel Pierson in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. Melounova is also the first Big West player to win a match at the NCAA tournament since Long Beach State's Jing Chen in 1998.
 
Pierson, the Aggies' senior and No. 1 singles player, came into the tournament as a 9-16 seed and was ranked No. 16 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association  (ITA) rankings. Melounova, a rookie who was the first UH women's tennis player and third in conference history to be voted both Big West Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year in the same season, came into the tourney ranked No. 70. Melounova kept her focus and composure through a 30-minute lightning delay and a pair of rain delays for the win.
 
Right off the bat, Melounova set the tone by starting the first set by breaking Pierson. With Melounova leading 3-2 a lightning delay was called and play was suspended for 30 minutes. She held the lead until Pierson broke back to tie the set at 4-4. Both players then kept breaking each other's serve for the next four games to force a tiebreaker at 6-6. Melounova took an early 2-0 lead and then kept trading points with Pierson. With Melounova in the lead at 5-3 in the tiebreaker, the first rain delay was called. When play resumed about five minutes later, Melounova held off Pierson to win the tiebreaker, 7-5 to capture the first set 7-6.
 
Melounova started the second set on a roll. She took a 2-0 lead to start the set but a second rain delay halted play. After a short break, Melounova went on to take a 4-0 lead. Pierson, however, battled back to win the next three to cut her deficit to 4-3. Melounova then broke Pierson in a key game to take a 5-3 lead. She then held her serve for the straight-set win, 6-3.
 
Melounova advances to the second round where she will take on LSU's Joana Valle Costa on Thursday morning at 3:00 a.m. HT. Valle Costa defeated Oklahoma's Lily Miyazaki, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
 
2017 NCAA Women's Singles Championship
Dan Magill Tennis Complex – Athens, Ga.
 
First Round - Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Petra Melounova (UH) def. Rachel Pierson (Texas A&M), 7-6 (5), 6-3
 
Second Round - Thurs., May 25
Petra Melounova (UH) vs. Joana Valle Costa (LSU) at 3:00 a.m. HT