UC Irvine Attempts To Halt Long Beach State Title Run In Women's Tennis

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Long Beach State attempts to win its sixth consecutive Big West Women's Tennis Championship on Sunday.

UC Irvine's Heidi Kaloi won the deciding match at No. 6 singles in the Anteaters' 4-3 victory against UC Santa Barbara Saturday. Photo by Steve Chen.

LONG BEACH STATE GOES FOR SIXTH STRAIGHT TITLE SUNDAY

Top-seeded Long Beach State's quest for a sixth straight women's tennis tournament title continued as the 49ers fought off a spirited challenge from No. 4 Cal State Northridge, winning 4-2 in the semifinals of the Big West Championship Saturday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The 49ers are attempting to tie UC Santa Barbara for most consecutive tournament championships won and a successful result will also give them their seventh title overall, which would set a Big West record.  LBSU's opponent is a familiar one in No. 2 seed UC Irvine.  Both teams have met three times in five previous finals at Indian Wells, with LBSU winning each time.  LBSU has won 17 straight matches at Indian Wells since 2004.

Cal State Northridge put the 49ers in an early 1-0 hole courtesy of winning the doubles point.  The Matadors won at No. 1 and 2 while the 49ers took the No. 3 match.  Nina Jaworowski and Nigora Sirojiddinova gave CSUN the doubles point with their 9-7 victory at No. 2 against Deborah Armstrong and Lisa Sutton.

Long Beach State responded by winning four of the five completed singles matches to take the match.  Armstrong rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win against Brooke Doane at No. 3.  Hannah Grady remained unbeaten against Big West opponents this season with her 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 1 versus Evgeniya Vertesheva.

With a 2-1 deficit, the Matadors did not fold as Sirojiddinova tied the match when she toppled Julie Luzar 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5.

A pair of freshmen handled the pressure well though for LBSU as Rachel Manasse defeated Jaworowski 6-4, 6-3 at No. 2 and Anais Dallara won 7-6 (3), 6-2 against Whitney Paluch at No. 4.

The win brings Long Beach State's record to 17-7, while Cal State Northridge finishes the season at 11-13.

BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2009 • SEMIFINALS
NO. 1 LONG BEACH STATE 4, NO. 4 CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 2

DOUBLES
1. Doane/Vertesheva (CSUN) def. Grady/Jessica Weeks (LBSU) - 8-2
2. Jaworowski/Sirojiddinova (CSUN) def. Armstrong/Sutton (LBSU) - 9-7
3. Dallara/Manasse (LBSU) def. Kukla/Paluch (CSUN) - 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

SINGLES
1. Hannah Grady (LBSU) def. Evgeniya Vertesheva (CSUN) - 6-1, 6-4
2. Rachel Manasse (LBSU) def. Nina Jaworowski (CSUN) - 6-4, 6-3
3. Deborah Armstrong (LBSU) def. Brooke Doane (CSUN) - 6-0, 6-2
4. Anais Dallara (LBSU) def. Whitney Paluch (CSUN) - 7-6 (3), 6-2
5. Nigora Sirojiddinova (CSUN) def. Julie Luzar (LBSU) - 6-4, 6-3
6. Lisa Sutton (LBSU) vs. Sandra Kukla (CSUN) - DNF

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5, 2, 4


KALOI CLINCHES MATCH FOR UC IRVINE IN 4-3 NAILBITER

Senior Heidi Kaloi won her match at No. 6 singles to give No. 2 seed UC Irvine a 4-3 victory over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals of the Big West Women's Tennis Championship Saturday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The Anteaters take on top-seeded Long Beach State in the championship match at 9:00 am on Sunday.

Kaloi outlasted UCSB's Bryanna Ojeda 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 to conclude a tightly contested match that lasted over four hours.

UC Santa Barbara sprinted out to a 1-0 lead thanks to solid doubles play.  The Gauchos won 8-0 at No. 2 and 8-3 at No. 3, capturing the doubles point after  Ojeda and Asagi Onaga defeated Brooke Bartlett and Rebecca Kwan 8-3 at No. 3.

UC Irvine quickly tied the score as Stephanie Hammel won 6-2, 6-0 against Michelle Murphy in the No. 1 singles slot.  Kwan gave UCI a 2-1 lead with her 7-5, 6-1 triumph at No. 2 versus Onaga.  However, UCSB re-tied the score 2-2 when Sofia Novak downed Bartlett 6-3, 7-6 (8) at No. 3.

The three remaining matches all went to a third set.  Senior Clare Fermin allowed UCI to retake the lead with her 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 triumph against Natalia Lozano.  However, Jill Damion replied for the Gauchos, winning 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) against Courtney Byron at No. 2.

That set the stage for the match at No. 6.  UCI's victory betters its record to 16-7 while UCSB finishes the season 16-7.


BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2009 • SEMIFINALS
NO. 2 UC IRVINE 4, NO. 6 UC SANTA BARBARA 3

DOUBLES
1. Hammel/Kaloi (UCI) vs. Murphy/Novak (UCSB) - DNF
2. Damion/Lozano (UCSB) def. Fermin/Miranda Young (UCI) - 8-0
3. Ojeda/Onaga (UCSB) def. Bartlett/Kwan (UCI) - 8-3

Order of Finish: 2, 3

SINGLES
1. Stephanie Hammel (UCI) def. Michelle Murphy (UCSB) - 6-2, 6-0
2. Jill Damion (UCSB) def. Courtney Byron (UCI) - 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3)
3. Sofia Novak (UCSB) def. Brooke Bartlett (UCI) - 6-3, 7-6 (8)
4. Clare Fermin (UCI) def. Natalia Lozano (UCSB) - 7-5, 1-6, 6-1
5. Rebecca Kwan (UCI) def. Asagi Onaga (UCSB) - 7-5, 6-1
6. Heidi Kaloi (UCI) def. Bryanna Ojeda (UCSB) - 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2

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