Peachtree City, Ga. -- Cal Poly, CSUN and UC San Diego concluded their respective 2023 women’s tennis campaigns at the Universal Tennis National Invitational Tennis (NIT) Championship, held at Peachtree Tennis Center.
Cal Poly wraps up its year after going 14-11 overall. CSUN finishes its season with a 17-7 record. UC San Diego concludes its year at 10-16.
Recap courtesy of gopoly.com
Graduate student Kim Bhunu picked up the Mustangs' first postseason singles victory in Division I program history, but Cal Poly women's tennis fell to No. 62 Colorado in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Universal Tennis NIT Championship on Wednesday at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
Due to rain and severe thunderstorms, the match was played indoors.
The Mustangs fell at No. 3, but Bhunu and freshman Kennedy Buntrock earned a commanding 6-2 win at No. 2 to keep the doubles point within reach. The victory allowed the All-Big West Second Team doubles pairing to increase its winning streak to eight and improve to 14-5 this spring, currently tied for the sixth-most dual victories by a doubles pairing in a season in Division I program history.
At No. 1 doubles, redshirt junior Delanie Dunkle and sophomore Peyton Dunkle jumped on the Buffaloes early, but came up just short, 7-5.
Colorado, the No. 2 seed in the eight-team tournament, gained a 2-0 advantage with a win at No. 3 singles, before Bhunu got the Mustangs on the board with an impressive 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1. Bhunu's triumph allowed Cal Poly to secure its first postseason dual point in Division I program history. The All-Big West First Team singles selection improved to 11-9 on the season.
Redshirt junior Melissa LaMette left it all on the court in her singles match, but fell in a hard-fought three-set battle at No. 3.
Then, the Buffaloes earned a win at No. 5 to clinch the dual victory.
Recap courtesy of ucsdtritons.com
UC San Diego women's tennis got off to a slow start at the Universal Tennis NIT Championships Friday morning, falling to TCU.
The Tritons were swept, 4-0, by the Horned Frogs to begin the tournament, but will look to turn the tide moving into their second match on Friday.
The Tritons were in for a sturdy challenge this morning to kick off the Universal Tennis NIT Championships, and TCU was prepared to rise to the occasion. Action in Peachtree City swung in favor of the Frogs early and stayed that way for the duration of the match.
The doubles matches came to a swift end as TCU clinched the point with wins at No. 3 and No 2. The No. 1 match-up was left unfinished as UC San Diego focused on singles play looking to rebound.
Unfortunately, TCU did not let up. Ella Pachl at No. 2, Sophie Pearson at No. 4, and Naomi Nguyen at No. 6 managed to hold their own and lead their matches at one point or another. But TCU acted quicker than the Tritons, securing wins at Nos. 1, 3, and 5 to take the victory.
Recap courtesy of gomatadors.com
Stetson defeated CSUN 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the University Tennis NIT Wednesday afternoon at the Peachtree Tennis Center.
The dual was delayed 30 minutes, and was forced to move inside due to rain in the area. With only three opening day starters in the lineup for the Matadors, the Hatters took the doubles point as Noa Cohen and Anais Gabriel defeated Yuliia Zhytelna and Emma Moratalla Sanz at No.2, and Magda Hedrzak and Pilar Harper defeated Cindy Ung and Tallia Harper by identical 6-3 scores.
Angela Ho tied the dual for CSUN when she opened singles with a 6-2, 6-0 victory against Cheri Darley at No. 3.
The Hatters won the next two singles matches. First, Alanna DiFrancesco defeated Jolene Coetzee 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) at No. 1 before Gabriel posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Zhytelna in No. 2 play. Finally, Harper defeated Sofia Dermenjyan 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the victory.
Recap courtesy of gopoly.com
Cal Poly women's tennis fought until the final point, but came up short in a tightly-contested battle with No. 70 Wyoming in a Universal Tennis NIT Championship consolation match Saturday at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
The Mustangs won the doubles point for the 16th time this season and sophomore Peyton Dunkle became the second player in Division I program history to secure a postseason singles victory, however the Cowgirls grabbed a 5-2 win in the first all-time between the two programs.
The match officially put a bow on another historic season for the Mustangs, who ended the year with a 14-11 overall record. This marks the third straight season Cal Poly has finished with 14 or more wins — a first in the program's Division I history.
In doubles against Wyoming, sophomore Eliza Bates and freshman Sarah MacCallum teamed up for the first time and captured a 6-4 victory at No. 3. After the Cowgirls won at No. 2, it all came down to court No. 1 and the Dunkle sisters pulled out a clutch win to seal the doubles point. The All-Big West Second Team doubles tandem of redshirt junior Delanie Dunkle and Peyton Dunkle earned a 7-5 victory to finish the year with a 15-8 record, tied for the fifth-most dual victories by a doubles pairing in a season in Division I program history.
Peyton picked up the Mustangs' lone singles victory, winning in straight sets in her first career match at the No. 2 spot. Peyton joins graduate student Kim Bhunu, who beat Colorado's No. 1 in Wednesday's NIT quarterfinal match, as the only players in Division I program history to claim postseason singles victories. She finishes the season with a 12-8 record, including a 7-1 mark at the No. 4 spot.
Delanie (No. 3) and Bates (No. 6) both went point-for-point with their opponents in singles play, but came up just short in the end.
The Mustangs, who played in the Big West Championship match for the third consecutive year three weeks ago, went 0-2 at the inaugural NIT Championship, falling to a pair of ranked opponents in their first postseason appearance in 12 years. Cal Poly gained valuable experience at the tournament that they will carry with them into next season as the program returns seven of the eight players that made the trip to Peachtree City.
| Appalachian State 4, UC San Diego 0 |
Recap courtesy of ucsdtritons.com
The UC San Diego Women's Tennis team ended their third Division I season this morning in match two of the Universal Tennis NIT. They stayed competitive and fought hard the whole match, but ultimately fell 0-4 to the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
The Tritons played really well today but struggled to complete their efforts. Although the result was 0-4, the match was competitive all the way through.
In doubles, the team competed hard and nearly took the point. At No. 3, Sophie Pearson and Naomi Nguyen took care of business and won their match 7-5. Rachel Wagner and Katelyn Vu (No. 2) brought their match to a tiebreaker, but the Mountaineers managed to edge them out of the win.
In singles, the Tritons came ready to respond and refused to go down easy. Rachel Wagner (No. 6) continued to play strong, winning her first set and coming close to taking the win, 6-3, 5-3. Naomi Nguyen was also handling her match well, maintaining a lead at No. 5, 6-4, 4-4. Katelyn Vu (No. 4) fought hard as well, reaching a third set before being cut short, 3-6, 6-1, 0-1. The Mountaineers took three swift singles wins to clinch the match victory, ending the action Nos. 4, 5, and 6 early.
This match marks the completion of the third Division I season for the Tritons. The team won more matches this year than its first two Division I seasons combined.