WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
UC SANTA BARBARA WOMEN ROLL TO WIN IN QUARTERFINALS
BOX SCORE
UC Santa Barbara is in the semifinals of the Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament for the eighth straight year after defeating No. 9 seed UC Riverside, 5-0, at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday.
The Gauchos won their quarterfinal matchup against the Highlanders after yielding just two points in doubles and winning singles contests at the No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 positions.
UCSB (14-7) performed just as dominant in singles as Tiffany Lagarde did not surrender a point in a 6-0, 6-0 win over Hanh Pham at No. 3.
Elizaveta Volodko collected a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Mahli Silpachai at No. 2 to increase the score to 3-0 in favor of the Gauchos.
Dominika Paterova and Lise Sentenac won their matches at nearly the identical time to make the final score 5-0.
Making its second straight appearance in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals, UC Riverside ends its season at 7-13.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
(1) UC SANTA BARBARA 5, (9) UC RIVERSIDE 0
Doubles
1. Valero/Stephanie Yamada (UCSB) def. Elpusan/Khattab (UCR) 6-1
2. Volodko/Lev-Ari (UCSB) def. Silpachai/Pham (UCR) 6-0
3. Paterova/Lagarde (UCSB) def. Wolfe/Van (UCR) 6-1
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. Amit Lev-Ari (UCSB) vs. Tia Elpusan (UCR) 7-5, 3-1, unf.
2. Elizaveta Volodko (UCSB) def. Mahli Silpachai (UCR) 6-1, 6-0
3. Tiffany Lagarde (UCSB) def. Hanh Pham (UCR) 6-0, 6-0
4. Dominika Paterova (UCSB) def. Sara Khattab (UCR) 6-1, 6-2
5. Lise Sentenac (UCSB) def. Lauren Wolfe (UCR) 6-1, 6-1
6. Juliana Valero (UCSB) vs. Tracy Van (UCR) 6-0, 5-2, unf.
Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 5
HAWAI‘I MOVES ONE STEP CLOSER TO DEFENDING TITLE
BOX SCORE
Reigning Big West Tournament champion Hawai‘i knocked off UC Davis in a quarterfinal matchup at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday.
The Rainbow Wahine (9-9) extended their winning streak to six straight. The No. 4 seed, UH earned the win by taking the doubles point and three straight singles matches at the No. 1, 4 and 6 slots.
No. 60 Petra Melounova, one of the nation’s top singles players, won her sixth straight match with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Nikita Pradeep at No. 1. Melounova has claimed 13 of her last 14 singles contests.
Junior Michelle Pits, who clinched the win in last year’s quarterfinal round against Long Beach State, notched the winning point for the ‘Bows against the Aggies. She knocked off Kristina Breisacher, 6-4, 6-4, while two of the three remaining unfinished matches were in third sets.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
(4) HAWAI‘I 4, (5) UC DAVIS 0
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
LONG BEACH STATE RETURNS TO SEMIFINALS
BOX SCORE
Reaching the semifinals for the 18th time in 19 years, No. 3 seed Long Beach State rolled to a 4-0 victory over sixth-seeded Cal Poly in a Big West Women’s Tennis Tournament quarterfinal contest at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The Beach restored order on Friday after losing in last year’s quarterfinal round. LBSU made quick work in doubles, winning 6-2 and 6-0 at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions for the 1-0 lead.
In singles, Natalia Munoz exited the court first as she breezed to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over MacKenzie Worsnop at No. 3. Zara Lennon gave the Beach a 3-0 lead with her 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 5 over Grace Olyphant. At No. 6 singles, Sadaf Sadeghvaziri turned in a 6-2, 6-3 performance against Emily Ackerman to give the Beach the winning point.
LBSU improves to 15-5 on the year, and now seeks its first finals appearance since 2015.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
(3) LONG BEACH STATE 4, (6) CAL POLY 0
Doubles
1. Rutkowska/Dominique Meyer (LBSU) def. Louie-Meadors/Ackerman (CP) 6-2
2. Munoz/Devarakonda (LBSU) def. Boyden/Olyphant (CP) 6-0
3. Carlota Casasampere/Sadaf Sadeghvaziri (LBSU) def. Worship/Williams (CP) 3-5, unf.
Order of finish: 2, 1
Singles
1. Wiktoria Rutkowska (LBSU) vs. Emily Louie-Meadors (CP) 4-6, 6-2, unf.
2. Emma Bardet (LBSU) vs. Susanne Boyden (CP) 4-6, 2-1, unf.
3. Natalia Munoz (LBSU) def. MacKenzie Worsnop (CP) 6-0, 6-2
4. Lalita Devarakonda (LBSU) vs. Caroline Williams (CP) 6-3, 4-3, unf.
5. Zara Lennon (LBSU) def. Grace Olyphant (CP) 6-4, 6-0
6. Sadaf Sadeghvaziri (LBSU) def. Emily Ackerman (CP) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 5, 6
CAL STATE FULLERTON EKES OUT 4-3 WIN OVER CSUN IN QUARTERS
BOX SCORE
Meeting for the fourth straight year in the Big West Tournament quarterfinals, Cal State Fullerton and CSUN battled back-and-forth for nearly four hours until the second-seeded Titans emerged with a 4-3 victory over the No. 7 seed Matadors at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday.
It is the third time in those four meetings that the two teams went the distance before deciding the outcome. CSUN won a 4-3 battle in 2016 before CSF returned the favor in 2017. The Titans defeated the Matadors, 4-0, in the 2018 quarterfinals.
Karla Portalatin overcame a first set deficit to defeat CSUN freshman Monika Van de Vondel in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). The Titan senior helped her team reach the semifinals for the third straight year.
Portalatin won twice on Friday as she partnered with Sarah Nuno at No. 1 doubles to upend Van de Vondel and Skyla Alcon, 6-0. CSF delivered the doubles point at No. 3 with a 6-3 win.
Genevieve Zeidan gave the Titans a 2-0 lead with a win at No. 3 singles, but Ana Fraile Toboso took a point back at No. 4 for the Matadors.
The Titans responded at No. 2 with Sarah Nuno’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Joelene Coetzee for the 3-1 advantage.
But the resilient Matadors knotted the score with wins at No. 6 and No. 5. Emma Roenholt was a 6-3, 6-3 victor over Jadie Acidera, and Sibel Demirbaga posted a 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over Luxizi Meng.
Portalatin helped the Titans improve to 15-5 on the year while the Matadors, with three freshmen in the starting lineup, had a successful 14-6 season.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS QUARTERFINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
FRIDAY, APRIL 26
(2) CAL STATE FULLERTON 4, (7) CSUN 3
Doubles
1. Nuno/Portalatin (CSF) def. Van de Vondel/Alcon (CSUN) 6-0
2. Emery/Masako Makiba (CSF) vs. Coetzee/Fraile Toboso (CSUN) 4-4, unf.
3. Acidera/Zeidan (CSF) def. Demirbaga/Roenholt (CSUN) 6-3
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles
1. Karla Portalatin (CSF) def. Monika Van de Vondel (CSUN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
2. Sarah Nuno (CSF) def. Joelene Coetzee (CSUN) 6-3, 6-3
3. Genevieve Zeidan (CSF) def. Skyla Alcon (CSUN) 6-2, 6-2
4. Ana Fraile Toboso (CSUN) def. Caisey Lee Emery (CSF) 6-4, 6-2
5. Sibel Demirbaga (CSUN) def. Luxizi Meng (CSF) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
6. Emma Roenholt (CSUN) def. Jadie Acidera (CSF) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 5, 1