UC Riverside Wins First Round Women's Tennis Clash Against UC Irvine

WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

UC RIVERSIDE WINS FIRST ROUND CLASH AGAINST UC IRVINE

BOX SCORE

For the second straight year, No. 9 seed UC Riverside toppled No. 8 seed UC Irvine in the first round of the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The Highlanders won a first round match in back-to-back years for the first time since 2008 and 2009. UCR, which defeated UCI 4-2 in 2018, went the distance on a hot afternoon in Indian Wells with a 4-3 victory.

UCR captured the all-important doubles point as the duo of Tia Elpusan and Sara Khattab took a 7-5 win over Stephanie Hazell and Danielle Garrido. The teams split at No. 2 and No. 3 to set up the clincher on the top court.

The two combatants then took turns compiling points. The Anteaters tied the score when Stephanie Nguyen knocked off Elpusan at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-1.

UCR punched back at No. 3 where Natalie Shamma won a second set tiebreaker to defeat Flora Amiri, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

Back came the Anteaters and Arianna Tilbury’s 6-3, 6-2 triumph at No. 6 over Lauren Wolfe, tying the match at 2-2.

The match would remain tied at 3-3 as freshman Mahli Silpachai at No. 2 won for the Highlanders while Jessica Tsukiji claimed her match at No. 4 for the ‘Eaters.

Determining the outcome at No. 5 was Sara Khattab and Alyssia Fossorier. Fossorier won the first set, but Khattab stormed back with a dominating effort as she won in three sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0.

UCR moves into the quarterfinals on Friday against No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara. First serve is at 8:30 am.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS FIRST ROUND
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
THURSDAY, APRIL 25
(9) UC RIVERSIDE 4, (8) UC IRVINE 3


Doubles
1. Elpusan/Khattab (UCR) def. Hazell/Danielle Garrido (UCI) 7-5
2. Silpachai/Pham (UCR) def. Tsukiji/Amiri (UCI) 6-4
3. Nguyen/Fossorier (UCI) def. Tracy Van/Shamma (UCR) 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. Stephanie Nguyen (UCI) def. Tia Elpusan (UCR) 6-4, 6-1
2. Mahli Silpachai (UCR) def. Stephanie Hazell (UCI) 6-4, 6-2
3. Natalie Shamma (UCR) def. Flora Amiri (UCI) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
4. Jessica Tsukiji (UCI) def. Hanh Pham (UCR) 7-6 (3), 7-5
5. Sara Khattab (UCR) def. Alyssia Fossorier (UCI) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0
6. Arianna Tilbury (UCI) def. Lauren Wolfe (UCR) 6-3, 6-2

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

Related Stories

Related Videos