WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

LONG BEACH STATE RETURNS TO WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

BOX SCORE

The Long Beach State women’s tennis program has won more Big West Tournament championships (12) than any other school in the 34-year history of the event.

LBSU won all 12 titles during a 15-year period from 2001-15, appearing in the championship match in each of those 15 years.

But then the Beach missed the finals for three consecutive seasons, a long hiatus for a program that had become synonymous with dominance at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

That all changed Saturday in Indian Wells, as the third-seeded Beach downed No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton, 4-1, in the semifinals. Avenging a 4-3 loss to the Titans on March 9, LBSU paved the way for another finals appearance and an opportunity to win title No. 13 on Sunday against reigning tournament champion and fourth-seeded Hawai‘i.

“It feels actually really good to get back to the finals,” said head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. “We had a long run for 15 years to where we were here and we dominated. They say ‘every good run comes to an end,’ and then you’ve got to rebuild and start over.

“This is definitely the team where we’re starting to rebuild again.”

Two freshmen and a sophomore earned singles victories in the revamped LBSU lineup, playing a large role in overcoming the loss of the doubles point.

CSF and LBSU split matches at Nos. 3 and 2, giving the Titan senior duo of Sarah Nuno and Karla Portalatin the opportunity to cash in on a 1-0 lead. The veteran team did just that with a 6-4 win over Wiktoria Rutkowska and Dominique Meyer.

But Rutkowska found redemption against Portalatin on the singles court. The freshman tied the match at 1-1 with her 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 1.

LBSU then turned to sophomore Sadaf Sadeghvaziri as she rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 6 over Eira Tobrand.

With a 2-1 lead, LBSU got a third point from its lone veteran player on the roster. Junior Natalia Munoz took down Genevieve Zeidan, 6-3, 6-3, at No. 3.

Freshman Zara Lennon stepped up in the crucial moments of her match against Titan Luxizi Meng, earning a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory and punctuating the win with a long rally on match point.

“I’ve never clinched before in a conference match so I was a little nervous at the beginning of the set, but at the end I was feeling better with my team watching and it gave me the best motivation you could have,” said Lennon, who is 6-1 against Big West opponents.

The Beach took the doubles point against the Titans in that March 9 match and still lost.

On Saturday afternoon, CSF flipped the script and owned the lead following doubles.

The deficit motivated LBSU to change the narrative one more time.

“When we came in after doubles, we said we were rewriting the story,” explained Hilt-Costello. “Rewriting the story means we didn’t get the doubles point, so that means we go out and get all six singles, and I’m so proud of the way we all started our singles matches. We took six first sets, and it was very smothering. We were all over them, and by the time they got themselves into those matches, it was too late.”

LBSU now turns its attention to Hawai‘i. The Rainbow Wahine knocked off LBSU in last year’s quarterfinals, ending a streak of 17 straight seasons in which the Beach had reached at least the semifinals.

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS SEMIFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
(3) LONG BEACH STATE 4, (2) CAL STATE FULLERTON 1

Doubles
1. Nuno/Portalatin (CSF) def. Rutkowska/Meyer (LBSU) 6-4
2. Munoz/Devarakonda (LBSU) def. Emery/Masako Makiba (CSF) 6-2
3. Jadie Acidera/Zeidan (CSF) def. Carlota Casasampere/Lennon (LBSU) 6-3

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles
1. Wiktoria Rutkowska (LBSU) def. Karla Portalatin (CSF) 6-4, 6-1
2. Sarah Nuno (CSF) vs. Emma Bardet (LBSU) 6-7 (5), 5-4, unf.
3. Natalia Munoz (LBSU) def. Genevieve Zeidan (CSF) 6-3, 6-3
4. Caisey Lee Emery (CSF) vs. Lalita Devarakonda (LBSU) 3-6, 6-2, 1-0, unf.
5. Zara Lennon (LBSU) def. Luxizi Meng (CSF) 6-2, 3-6, 6-0
6. Sadaf Sadeghvaziri (LBSU) def. Eira Tobrand (CSF) 6-0, 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 6, 3, 5

‘BOWS THWART UC SANTA BARBARA’S COMEBACK ATTEMPT

BOX SCORE

Two familiar foes in the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament at Indian Wells Tennis Garden ended the other’s season for the fourth straight year. And for the second year in a row, Hawai‘i defeated UC Santa Barbara, 4-3, in a semifinal thriller.

UCSB toppled UH in back-to-back championship matches in 2016 and 2017, and the developing rivalry continues to become even more intense.

After Marina Hruba clinched the 2018 semifinal showdown against the Gauchos, the ‘Bows turned to a senior transfer to play the hero role on Saturday.

Sela, a transfer from Pacific, won an all-out war at No. 2 singles. The 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-4 triumph over UCSB’s Elizaveta Vodolko finished off a three hour and 50 minute battle between the two squads, and prevented the Gauchos from completing an epic comeback.

Hawai‘i darted out to a commanding 3-0 lead, only to watch UCSB roar back with three straight singles wins to tie the match.

All three doubles matches were decided by 6-3 scores. The final outcome belonged to Sela and Alzbeta Houbova at No. 3, as the UH pair defeated Dominika Paterova and Tiffany Lagarde.

Petra Melounova, ranked No. 60 nationally in singles, earned a 7-5, 6-1 win at No. 1 over Amit Lev-Ari. Melounova has won seven straight and 14 of the last 15 matches.

UH built the lead to 3-0 with junior Michelle Pits outlasting Paterova at No. 4, 6-4, 6-4.

But the Gauchos buckled down and began their comeback at No. 3. Lagarde stormed back from a first set deficit to defeat Nikola Dolakova in three, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 for the first point.

Senior Stephanie Yamada continued the resurgence at No. 5, taking a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win against Roxanne Resma.

UCSB tied the score at No. 6 as Juliana Valero completed a three-set win (6-1, 4-6, 6-4) against Houbova.

Sela was ecstatic to clinch the match as she gave her team an opportunity to repeat as champion.

“I can’t even describe what it feels like to be clinching the match for my team,” she said. “Obviously, it was really emotional at the end, and I just wanted to show that I’m tough and I can do it.”

Head coach Jun Hernandez looked ahead to his team’s matchup with Long Beach State in the final. The ‘Bows lost 5-1 in the regular season matchup on March 21 in Long Beach.

“I know they’re a tough team to play,” Hernandez said. “They’re very feisty players. Hopefully we have a lot of energy and fight left in us. I know that for sure. Hopefully we’ll defend our title.”

BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS SEMIFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
SATURDAY, APRIL 27
(4) HAWAI‘I 4, (3) UC SANTA BARBARA 3

Doubles
1. Melounova/Dolakova (UH) def. Bryant/Tsukamoto (UCD) 6-1
2. Resma/Pits (UH) def. Pradeep/Hall (UCD) 6-3
3. Houbova/Sela (UH) vs. Breisacher/Holm (UCD) 4-4, unf.

Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles
1. Petra Melounova (UH) def. Nikita Pradeep (UCD) 6-3, 6-3
2. Maayan Sela (UH) vs. Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) 6-4, 4-6, unf.
3. Nikola Dolakova (UH) vs. Shirley Hall (UCD) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
4. Michelle Pits (UH) def. Kristina Breisacher (UCD) 6-4, 6-4
5. Roxanne Resma (UH) vs. Kelsie Bryant (UCD) 5-7, 5-4, unf.
6. Alzbeta Houbova (UH) def. Skyler Holm (UCD) 6-3, 6-1

Order of finish: 1, 6, 4