UC SANTA BARBARA OUTLASTS CAL POLY 4-3

In a marathon match that lasted over four hours long, No. 6 seed UC Santa Barbara eked out a 4-3 victory against No. 3 Cal Poly in the quarterfinals of the Big West Women's Tennis Championship Friday.

Sofia Novak clinched the match with a hard fought 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3 singles victory against Whitney Peterson in the No. 3 spot.  Novak was also on the winning end of an 8-6 triumph at No. 1 doubles with partner Michelle Murphy.  The UCSB duo defeated Mustang counterparts Amy Markhoff and Suzie Matzenauer.

The Gauchos captured the crucial doubles point when Jill Damion and Natalia Lozano collected an 8-6 win against Brittany Blalock and Steffi Wong.

Cal Poly took a 2-1 lead in the match with strong play at the top of the lineup.  Blalock earned a 6-2, 6-1 win over Murphy and Matzenauer triumphed 6-2, 6-2 over Damion.  Asagi Onaga tied the score with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Maria Malec at No. 5.

But Wong responded as a 6-2, 6-3 winner against Bryanna Ojega to give Cal Poly a 3-2 lead.  Lozano, needing a win against Diane Filip to tie the score, achieved her goal with a 7-5, 7-5 nailbiter at No. 4.  That set up the heroics from Novak as the Gauchos improved to 16-5 on the season with the win.

Cal Poly finished a solid season at 12-9.


BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009 • QUARTERFINALS
NO. 6 UC SANTA BARBARA 4, NO. 3 CAL POLY 3

DOUBLES
1. Murphy/Novak (UCSB) def. Amy Markhoff/Matzenauer (CP) - 8-6
2. Damion/Lozano (UCSB) def. Blalock/Wong (CP) - 8-6
3. Filip/Malec (CP) vs. Ojeda/Onaga (UCSB) - DNF

Order of Finish: 1, 2

SINGLES
1. Brittany Blalock (CP) def. Michelle Murphy (UCSB) - 6-2, 6-1
2. Suzie Matzenauer (CP) def. Jill Damion (UCSB) - 6-2, 6-2
3. Sofia Novak (UCSB) def. Whitney Peterson (CP) - 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3
4. Natalia Lozano (UCSB) def. Diane Filip (CP) - 7-5, 7-5
5. Asagi Onaga (UCSB) def. Maria Malec (CP) - 6-1, 6-2
6. Steffi Wong (CP) def. Bryanna Ojeda (UCSB) - 6-2, 6-3

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


CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE EARNS 4-1 WIN AGAINST PACIFIC

No. 4 seed Cal State Northridge advanced to the Big West Women's Tennis Championship semifinals with a 4-1 victory against No. 5 Pacific at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Friday.

The Matadors pushed their record to 11-12 with the win, while the Tigers had their season end at 8-14.

Cal State Northridge and Pacific split the first two doubles matches, bringing the battle for the doubles point down to the No. 3 spot.  The Matadors took the point after Sandra Kukla and Whitney Paluch outlasted Svenja Arens and Kateryna Nezhura 8-6.

The Matadors secured the victory with wins in singles at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5.  Jaworowski clinched the match at No. 2 with her 6-4, 6-1 victory against Jolanta Twarowska.

Pacific's lone point came at No. 1 where Jenifer Widjaja defeated Evgeniya Vertesheva, 6-3, 6-2.


BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009 • QUARTERFINALS
NO. 4 CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE 4, NO. 5 PACIFIC 1

DOUBLES
1. Doane/Vertesheva (CSUN) def. Gumenyuk/Widjaja (PAC) - 8-3
2. Fisher/Twarowska (PAC) def. Jaworowski/Sirojiddinova (CSUN) - 8-4
3. Kukla/Paluch (CSUN) def. Arens/Nezhura (PAC) - 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

SINGLES
1. Jenifer Widjaja (PAC) def. Evgeniya Vertesheva (CSUN) - 6-3, 6-2
2. Nina Jaworowski (CSUN) def. Jolanta Twarowska (PAC) - 6-4, 6-1
3. Brooke Doane (CSUN) def. Svenja Arens (PAC) - 6-0, 6-3
4. Whitney Paluch (CSUN) vs. Kateryna Nezhura (PAC) - DNF
5. Nigora Sirojiddinova (CSUN) def. Olga Gumenyuk (PAC) - 6-4, 6-4
6. Sandra Kukla (CSUN) vs. Sasha Fisher (PAC) - DNF

Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5, 2

LONG BEACH STATE WINS 16TH STRAIGHT TOURNAMENT MATCH

Top-seeded Long Beach State knocked off No. 8 UC Riverside, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of Big West Women's Tennis Championship action at Indian Wells Tennis Garden Friday.

The 49ers improved to 16-7 on the season in extending their winning streak in Big West Tournament matches to 16 straight.  It is a streak that began in 2004.  The Highlanders finished their season at 9-11.

Long Beach State broke out to a 1-0 lead after securing the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions.

In singles, freshman Rachel Manasse put LBSU up 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-2 win against Donna McCullough.  Freshman Anais Dallara cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Angelique Corpuz at No. 4 and senior Hannah Grady clinched the fourth and final match point with her 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Erynne Oki at No. 1.


BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009 • QUARTERFINALS
NO. 1 LONG BEACH STATE 4, NO. 8 UC RIVERSIDE 0

DOUBLES
1. Grady/Weeks (LBSU) vs. Oki/Plata (UCR) - DNF
2. Armstrong/Sutton (LBSU) def. Corpuz/McCullough (UCR) - 8-2
3. Dallara/Manasse (LBSU) def. Sakhakorn (UCR) - 8-1

Order of Finish: 3, 2

SINGLES
1. Hannah Grady (LBSU) def. Erynne Oki (UCR) - 6-2, 6-3
2. Rachel Manasse (LBSU) def. Donna McCullough (UCR) - 6-0, 6-2
3. Deborah Armstrong (LBSU) vs. Nadia Sakhakorn (UCR) - DNF
4. Anais Dallara (LBSU) def. Angelique Corpuz (UCR) - 6-3, 6-1
5. Julie Luzar (LBSU) vs. Roxanne Plata (UCR) - DNF
6. Lisa Sutton (LBSU) vs. Anna Higane (UCR) - DNF

Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1


UC IRVINE NOTCHES 6-0 WIN AGAINST UC DAVIS

No. 2 seed UC Irvine rolled to a 6-0 win over No. 7 UC Davis in the quarterfinals of the Big West Women's Tennis Championship at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The Anteaters bettered their record to 15-7 and advanced to Saturday's semifinals against the winner of the No. 3 Cal Poly/No. 6 UC Santa Barbara match, which takes place on Friday afternoon.

UC Irvine earned a pair of identical 8-5 victories at No. 1 and 2 doubles to stake a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Aggies found themselves in a 3-0 deficit with quick losses at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, but stayed competitive at all other positions.  Three matches ended at nearly identical times as the final score read 6-0.  Ali Borowicz earned a 6-4, 6-4 win against Emma Shapiro at No. 6, Brooke Bartlett garnered a 6-4, 6-4 victory versus Desiree Stone at No. 2 and Heidi Kaloi won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 5 versus Jessica Harris.


BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIAN WELLS TENNIS GARDEN • INDIAN WELLS, CALIF.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009 • QUARTERFINALS
NO. 2 UC IRVINE 6, NO. 7 UC DAVIS 0

DOUBLES
1. Stephanie Hammel/Kaloi (UCI) def. Randi Schuler/Stone (UCD) - 8-5
2. Byron/Miranda Young (UCI) def. Legaspi/Zamudio (UCD) - 8-5
3. Bartlett/Kwan (UCI) vs. Kappel/Andrea Phillips (UCD) - DNF

Order of Finish: 2, 1

SINGLES
1. Courtney Byron (UCI) vs. Dahra Zamudio (UCD) - DNF
2. Brooke Bartlett (UCI) def. Desiree Stone (UCD) - 6-4, 6-4
3. Clare Fermin (UCI) def. Herzyl Legaspi (UCD) - 6-0, 6-0
4. Rebecca Kwan (UCI) def. Jenna Kappel (UCD) - 6-1, 6-1
5. Heidi Kaloi (UCI) def. Jessica Harris (UCD) - 6-3, 6-4
6. Ali Borowicz (UCI) def. Emma Shapiro (UCD) - 6-4, 6-4

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