University of Washington
Sacramento State
No. 19 Huskies Outlast No. 49 Hornets, 4-3
February 20, 2010 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2010
SEATTLE - Facing the prospect of a one point defeat against pesky Sacramento State for the fourth-straight year, the 19th-ranked Husky women's tennis team came back to capture the final two matches and knock off the Hornets, 4-3, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center. Samantha Smith and Joyce Ardies won the final two singles matches to secure the victory for the Huskies (6-1), both closing out tight second sets.
The 49th-ranked Hornets had tormented the Huskies the last three seasons, defeating UW by a 4-3 score each year. For a while it looked like things might be heading an all-too-familiar direction for the Dawgs, as Sacramento State won three straight singles matches after UW had started with a 2-0 lead. But Smith did her part at fifth singles, holding off Clarisse Baca, 7-5, 6-4, to make it 3-3. Then Ardies held on to best Rebeca Delgado at No. 4 singles, 7-5, 7-5. The senior trailed in both sets, and was down 2-4 in the second before taking a 5-4 lead and serving for the match. Delgado broke back but couldn't hold her own serve again, and Ardies came through at 40-30 in the next game to clinch the victory.
"Well we finally did it," said head coach Jill Hultquist on breaking the string against the Hornets. "I felt pretty confident with who we still had on the court. I felt like Samantha was going to get the win and then I'd put my money on Joyce any time."
Washington's first win in singles came from 14th-ranked junior Venise Chan, who played at second singles today and routinely defeated Maria Meliuk, 6-2, 6-3. 4th-ranked sophomore Denise Dy ran into a veteran senior on top of her game, and lost for the first time in dual play and just the third time all season. She fell at No. 1 to 46th-ranked Katrina Zheltova, 6-1, 6-3.
Junior Lina Xu played well but fell short at third singles against Tatsiana Kapshai, 7-5, 6-3. In the No. 6 spot, senior Aleksandra Malovic looked to have the momentum against Aileen Tsan as she lost the first set but won the second, 6-1 and took a 2-1 lead in the third, but Tsan won the final five games to give Sacramento State the 3-2 lead.
In doubles, play, Washington won all three matches in different fashions. The sixth-ranked tandem of Ardies and Dy rolled to a 7-2 lead over Zheltova and Baca and ended up with an 8-4 victory to improve to 7-0 this year at the No. 1 spot. At No. 2, Smith and Chan trailed 2-4 against Kapshai and Delgado but then ran off six straight games for the 8-4 win. Finally at the third spot, Malovic and Xu went to a tiebreak at 7-all against Tsan and Meliuk and after saving a match point at 6-7, they won the final three points for the 9-7 win.
The Huskies will have a quick turnaround for another tough match against 52nd-ranked Minnesota, tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Nordstrom once again.
Washington Women's Tennis
February 20, 2010 - Seattle, Wash.
Nordstrom Tennis Center
No. 19 Washington 4, No. 49 Sacramento State 3
Doubles
2) Smith/Chan (UW) def. Kapshai/Delgado (Sac St), 8-4
3) Malovic/Xu (UW) def. Tsan/Meliuk (Sac St), 8-7 (7)
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1) (46) Katrina Zheltova (Sac St) def. (4) Denise Dy (UW), 6-1, 6-3
2) (14) Venise Chan (UW) def. Maria Meliuk (Sac St), 6-2, 6-3
3) Tatsiana Kapshai (Sac St) def. Lina Xu (UW), 7-5, 6-3
4) Joyce Ardies (UW) def. Rebeca Delgado (Sac St), 7-5, 7-5
5) Samantha Smith (UW) def. Clarisse Baca (Sac St), 7-5, 6-4
6) Aileen Tsan (Sac St) def. Aleksandra Malovic (UW), 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 6, 5, 4
