WOMEN'S TENNIS TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
BOX SCORE
The Long Beach State women’s tennis program collected Big West Tournament title No. 13 on Sunday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, defeating reigning champion Hawai‘i in a dramatic 4-3 comeback.
In the previous 12 titles (2002, 2004-09, 2011-15), LBSU never had to go the distance in any of the championship matches.
The third-seeded Beach found themselves in that situation in a gritty three hour and 50 minute slugfest against a steadfast UH program, needing to claw back from a 3-1 deficit.
Junior Natalia Munoz, sophomore Lalita Devarakonda and freshman Emma Bardet showed the necessary resilience as two of the three won three-set battles and the other took a second-set tiebreaker.
“It’s really great to be back on top in the desert,” said head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. “This has been a very special place for us for a very long time. We had a little hiatus for three years, but coming back here to one of the best facilities in the world is so special. We just got so inspired and that’s why I think we were able to really make a comeback win today.”
Munoz trimmed LBSU’s deficit to 3-2 as the No. 3 player stopped Nikola Dolakova by a 6-4, 7-6 (7) score. Munoz won all six of her matches during the tournament – three in singles and three in doubles.
“Winning all six matches all weekend I think really helped the team, but for me it just made me feel so much better with no regrets,” said Munoz. “I did everything I could. I won every match, and my team did the rest of the work.”
The Beach staved off elimination again at No. 4 as Devarakonda went back-and-forth with Michelle Pits, but ultimately prevailed 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
Attention then shifted to No. 2 singles as Bardet and Hawaii’s Maayan Sela were locked in a tight battle. Sela, who survived a tough three-set encounter to clinch a 4-3 victory for the ‘Bows over UC Santa Barbara in Saturday’s semifinals, couldn’t get over the hump against Bardet. It was the LBSU freshman who overcame a first-set deficit to win in three, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.
UH looked in control early on, winning the doubles point and going up 2-0 on Roxanne Resma’s 6-2, 6-1 win against Zara Lennon.
The Beach halved the deficit when Sadaf Sadeghvaziri won 6-3, 6-2 over Alzbeta Houbova at No. 6, but the ‘Bows responded at No. 1 as No. 60 Petra Melounova prevailed 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 over Wiktoria Rutkowska. Melounova captured her eighth straight singles victory, and 15th in her last 16.
Unnerved, LBSU began its comeback and improved to 17-5 on the season, returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
BIG WEST WOMEN’S TENNIS FINALS
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN
SUNDAY, APRIL 28
(3) LONG BEACH STATE 4, (4) HAWAI‘I 3
Doubles
1. Melounova/Dolakova (UH) def. Rutkowska/Dominique Meyer 6-4
2. Munoz/Devarakonda (LBSU) def. Resma/Pits 6-2
3. Houbova/Sela (UH) def. Carlota Casasampere/Lennon (LBSU) 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Petra Melounova (LBSU) def. Wiktoria Rutkowska (UH) 3-6, 6-0, 6-4
2. Emma Bardet (LBSU) def. Maayan Sela (UH) 5-7, 6-1, 7-5
3. Natalia Munoz (LBSU) def. Nikola Dolakova (UH) 6-4, 7-6 (7)
4. Lalita Devarakonda (LBSU) def. Michelle Pits (UH) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
5. Roxanne Resma (UH) def. Zara Lennon (LBSU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Sadaf Sadeghvaziri (LBSU) def. Alzbeta Houbova (UH) 6-3, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 6, 1, 3, 4, 2