Three of the top four seeds advanced to the semifinals of the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament, but the highlight of the day came courtesy of No. 7 seed Cal Poly’s epic comeback win over second seeded UC Davis at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Friday.



UC Santa Barbara Reaches Semifinals For Seventh Straight Year

BOX SCORE

Top seed UC Santa Barbara advanced to the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament semifinals for the seventh straight year as the team defeated No. 9 seed UC Riverside, 4-0, at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Friday.

The Gauchos will meet No. 4 seed Hawai‘i for the third consecutive year at the tournament.  The foes clashed in the previous two finals, with UCSB victorious both times.  First serve for UCSB and UH is 9:30 am (PT) on Saturday.

The Gauchos won the match against the Highlanders in a swift one hour and 35 minutes.  The UCSB duo of Stephanie Yamada and Amanda Atanasson blanked Natalie Penner and Tracy Van, 6-0, at No. 3 doubles before No. 42-ranked Palina Dubavets and Natalie Da Silveira earned a 6-1 win at No. 1 over Tia Elpusan and Sara Khattab.

UCSB (12-12) lost just six points at three different positions on the singles ladder.  Da Silveria was the first to finish as she dispatched Elpusan, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 2.  Amit Lev Ari followed with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph at No. 4 over Chloe Pham.  The match ended at No. 3 where Atanasson took care of Khattab by a 6-2, 6-2 score.

UCR competed in its first quarterfinal match since 2009, and finished its season at 6-19 overall.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
(1) UC SANTA BARBARA 4, (9) UC RIVERSIDE 0

Doubles
1. Dubavets/Da Silveira (UCSB) def. Elpusan/Khattab (UCR) - 6-1
2. Sentence/Lev Ari (UCSB) def. Wolfe/Tamilla Vaksman (UCR) - 5-1 (unfinished)
3. Yamada/Atanasson (UCSB) def. Natalie Penner/Van (UCR) - 6-0

Order of finish: 3, 1

Singles
1. Palina Dubavets vs. Karla Dulay (UCR) - 6-2, 5-2 (unfinished)
2. Natalie Da Silveira (UCSB) def. Tia Elpusan (UCR) - 6-0, 6-1
3. Amanda Atanasson (UCSB) def. Sara Khattab (UCR) - 6-2, 6-2
4. Amit Lev Ari (UCSB) def. Chloe Pham (UCR) - 6-0, 6-1
5. Stephanie Yamada (UCSB) vs. Lauren Wolfe (UCR) - 6-1, 5-1 (unfinished)
6. Lise Sentenac (UCSB) vs. Tracy Van (UCR) - 6-6 (unfinished)

Order of finish: 2, 4, 3



Hawai‘i Battles Past Long Beach State In Quarterfinals

BOX SCORE

No. 4 seed Hawai‘i earned a 4-1 victory over No. 5 seed Long Beach State in the quarterfinals of the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Friday.

The Rainbow Wahine are in the semifinals for the third straight year.  The Beach lost their first tournament opening round match since 1999.  UH will face UCSB in one Saturday semifinal with first serve at 9:30 am (PT).

The doubles point was closely contested with each team gaining a win.  LBSU’s Lena Pacholski and Sadaf Sadeghvaziri defeated Klara Pribylova and Nikola Dolakova at No. 2, 6-3.  UH’s Marina Hruba and Alzbeta Houbova responded with a 6-4 victory at No. 3 over Carlota Casasampere and Georgia Gulin.  The ‘Bows then clinched the point as Petra Melounova and Roxanne Resma downed Natalia Munoz and Lalita Devarakonda, 7-5, at No. 1.

Melounova put UH up 2-0 with the first singles win, as she toppled Pacholski (6-2, 6-3) at No. 1.  Hruba followed suit with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Maren Helga at No. 3.  LBSU (11-10) refused to give in, as Casasampere put her team on the board with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Resma. 

However, UH (11-6) would not allow a comeback as Michelle Pits closed the match out at No. 5, upending Sadeghvaziri in a 6-3, 6-3 decision.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
(4) HAWAI‘I 4, (5) LONG BEACH STATE 1

Doubles
1. Melounova/Resma (UH) def. Munoz/Devarakonda (LBSU) - 7-5
2. Pacholski/Sadeghvaziri (LBSU) def. Pribylova/Dolakova (UH) - 6-3
3. Hruba/Houbova (UH) def. Casasampere/Georgia Gulin (LBSU) - 6-4

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles
1. Petra Melounova (UH) def. Lena Pacholski (LBSU) - 6-2, 6-3
2. Nikola Dolakova (UH) vs. Natalia Munoz (LBSU) - 6-1, 2-6, 1-0 (unfinished)
3. Marina Hruba (UH) def. Maren Helgo (LBSU) - 6-3, 6-1
4. Klara Pribylova (UH) vs. Lalita Devarakonda (LBSU) - 6-3, 3-4 (unfinished)
5. Michelle Pits (UH) def. Sadaf Sadeghvaziri (LBSU) - 6-3, 6-3
6. Carlota Casasampere (LBSU) def. Roxanne Resma (UH) - 6-2, 6-1

Order of finish: 1, 3, 6, 5



Cal State Fullerton Overcomes Scrappy CSUN

BOX SCORE

Tangling in the Indian Wells heat for three hours, third-seeded Cal State Fullerton shutout sixth-seeded CSUN by a 4-0 score in the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament quarterfinals, but worked hard to get the result.

The Titans won a match at No. 1 doubles in fairly quick fashion, but battled to get the next one.  CSUN outlasted the Titan tandem of Masako Makiba and Luxizi Meng in a tiebreaker, with Alicia Dinkelmeyer and Emma Roenholt prevailing, 7-6 (2).  The battle for the doubles point came down to No. 3.  In a back-and-forth thriller, Jadie Acidera and Genevieve Zeidan turned the tables in the tiebreaker with their 7-6 (11) win over Kiryang Kim and Mari Taslagyan to give the Titans the point.

The Matadors kept clawing away in singles, but the Titans showed their mettle as they tied the school’s single-season record with their 19th win.

Meng won at No. 4 in a dominant 6-2, 6-0 performance over Roenholt.  Zeidan, the heralded Titan freshman, earned a 6-1, 6-4 win over Monika Van de Vondel for a 3-0 CSF lead.

To clinch the match, CSF No. 3 player Karla Portalatin overcame a first-set loss to battle past Skyla Alcon by set scores of 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

CSUN had the No. 2 match in the third set, and took the first set to tiebreakers at No. 5 and No. 6 singles in what was a much closer match than the score indicated.

CSF will appear in its second consecutive Big West semifinal, taking on seventh-seed Cal Poly, an upset winner over No. 2 seed UC Davis.  The Titans and Mustangs begin play at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
(3) CAL STATE FULLERTON 4, (6) CSUN 0

Doubles
1. Nuno/Portalatin (CSF) def. Van de Vondel/Alcon (CSUN) - 6-2
2. Dinklemeyer/Roenholt (CSUN) def. Masako Makiba/Meng (CSF) - 7-6 (2)
3. Jadie Acidera/Zeidan (CSF) def. Kim/Taslagyan (CSUN) - 7-6 (11)

Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. Genevieve Zeidan (CSF) def. Monika Van de Vondel (CSUN) - 6-1, 6-4
2. Sarah Nuno (CSF) vs. Alicia Dinkelmeyer (CSUN) - 6-4, 5-7 (unfinished)
3. Karla Portalatin (CSF) def. Skyla Alcon (CSUN) - 3-6, 6-1, 6-1
4. Luxizi Meng (CSF) def. Emma Roenholt (CSUN) - 6-2, 6-0
5. Caisey Lee Emery (CSF) vs. Kiryang Kim (CSUN) - 7-6 (2), 4-2 (unfinished)
6. Jadie Acidera (CSF) vs. Mari Taslagyan (CSUN) - 7-6 (6), 3-2 (unfinished)

Order of finish: 1, 4, 3



Cal Poly Upsets UC Davis In Quarterfinals

BOX SCORE

In an epic comeback that spanned three hours and 15 minutes, No. 7 seed Cal Poly outlasted second-seeded UC Davis in the first upset of the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday.

The Mustangs became the first No. 7 seed to defeat a No. 2 seed since 2011 when CSUN defeated Cal Poly.

The Mustangs (7-13) looked like they were headed to defeat as the Aggies pounced early in doubles and held a 3-1 lead.  But Cal Poly won three consecutive matches in three sets to pry away the 4-3 victory.

Doubles went the way of UC Davis (15-7) with wins at No. 1 and No. 3, putting the Aggies up 1-0.

Sara Tsukamoto earned a quick 6-1, 6-1 win over Caroline Williams at No. 5 to give UC Davis a 2-0 edge.  Cal Poly grabbed a point back at No. 3, where Molly Reed notched a 6-3, 6-3 win over Lani-Rae Green.

But the Aggies stretched their lead to 3-1 with a win at No. 6 singles.  Isabella Von Ebbe nabbed a 6-4, 6-3 win over Claire Bouquet.

That’s when Cal Poly (7-13) buckled down and scratched for every point.

Susanne Boyden came back from a first set loss to take down Kristina Breisacher (2-6, 6-3, 6-3) at No. 2.  MacKenzie Worsnop came up with perhaps the biggest win of her freshman campaign as she outlasted senior Kristy Jorgensen (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) to tie the match at 3-3.

But the most impressive win came on the clinching court.  Playing just her fourth match all season at No. 4 singles, Mustang freshman Grace Olyphant knocked off Nikita Pradeep in a three-set thriller, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.  Pradeep was 15-0 this season, including 10-0 at the No. 4 position.

Cal Poly reached the semifinals for the first time since 2010.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 27
(7) CAL POLY 4, (2) UC DAVIS 3

Doubles
1. Jorgensen/Kelsie Bryant (UCD) def. Abigail Bacharach/Worsnop (CP) - 6-2
2. Green/Breisacher (UCD) vs. Reed/Boyden (CP) - 4-2 (unfinished)
3. Pradeep/Tsukamoto (UCD) def. Williams/Olyphant (CP) - 6-1

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles
1. MacKenzie Worsnop (CP) def. Kristy Jorgensen (UCD) - 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
2. Susanne Boyden (CP) def. Kristina Breisacher (UCD) - 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Molly Reed (CP) def. Lani-Rae Green (UCD) - 6-3, 6-3
4. Grace Olyphant (CP) def. Nikita Pradeep (UCD) - 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) def. Caroline Williams (CP) - 6-1, 6-1
6. Isabella von Ebbe (UCD) def. Claire Bouquet (CP) - 6-4, 6-3

Order of finish: 5, 3, 6, 2, 1, 4