University of Washington
Sacramento State
Smith Clinches 4-3 Win On Senior Day
April 02, 2011 | Women's Tennis
April 2, 2011
SEATTLE - It was a day filled with celebration and tears inside the Nordstrom Tennis Center on Saturday as the No. 25 Husky women's tennis team said goodbye to three beloved seniors during their match versus No. 46 Sacramento State. A battle to the finish, the Huskies grabbed the close victory, defeating the Hornets, 4-3, thanks to junior Samantha Smith's tiebreaking win at the No. 3 singles spot.
The Huskies (12-8, 2-4) saluted Venise Chan, Aleksandra Krsljanin and Vanja Radunovic, who brought the same style and class to the court that they have shown throughout their entire collegiate playing careers.
Coach Jill Hultquist recognized that the team knew it would be a close match against Sacramento State saying, "It was obviously great to get that win and I think it's been five or six years in a row now that we've been 4-3 [against Sacramento State]. So we knew it was going to be a fight again."
She also spoke on the turnaround and resilience of her team throughout her tenure, no doubt in large part thanks to these seniors, saying with a smile, "It's always good when the seniors can end on a positive note. When I first took over this job, it wasn't always a positive note on Senior Day and today it was. I think the seniors feel good and it's a good day all around."
The Huskies started strong in the doubles match with UW's Venise Chan and Samantha Smith defeating Sacramento State's Tatsiana Kapshai and Rebeca Delgado in the No. 1 match. They led the entire match and ended with an 8-1 victory. Chan and Smith are now 4-1 as a doubles pair for the season. The Huskies captured the doubles point with Denise Dy and Krsljanin defeating Maria Meliuk and Clarisse Baca in the No. 2 match, 8-6. The Huskies started down 1-4 in the match but fought back every step of the way to seal the doubles point for the Huskies. Dy and Krsljanin are 5-0 at second doubles. Washington then earned just its third win of the year at No. 3 doubles, as Radunovic and junior Adrijana Pavlovic earned a tiebreak victory over Lohscheidt and Zivanovic. It was the first match for Pavlovic, out with a foot injury, since the road match at TCU on Feb. 25.
The teams then took a break from competition to recognize the three Husky seniors and what they have meant to the program, both on and off the court. Coach Jill Hultquist read off accomplishments and told of memories about the three exceptional senior student-athletes.
The singles matches started much like the doubles, with Chan and Dy surging out to big leads in the top two matches. Chan moved back up to the No. 1 singles spot where she spent so much of her career until Dy earned a run in the top spot this season.
Despite this being her last home match, Chan, ranked 20th nationally in singles apparently did not want to savor it for long, as she dominated Tatsiana Kapshai, 6-2, 6-0. She improves to 18-1 in dual singles matches this year, and winds up with a 35-3 career record in home matches. It is her 95th career win, third-most in school history and five away from second.
Fifth-ranked Dy also wasted little time and actually beat Chan to the finish line, as she hammered Rebeca Delgado, 6-0, 6-1 at the second singles spot. Dy's 18-1 dual record is now equal to Chan's. That gave the Huskies a 3-0 lead, but it wouldn't stay that way for long.
The No. 6 match also ended in two sets with Sacramento State's Milica Zivanovic defeating UW's Kelli Feeley and scoring the first point for the Hornets. The No. 5 match ended in a 6-2, 6-1 Sacramento State victory with Sophie Lohscheidt defeating Radunovic. Sacramento State scored their third point in a row with Baca defeating Krsljanin in the four spot, 6-2, 6-4. That leveled it at 3-3.
It came down to Samantha Smith's No. 3 dual against Maria Meliuk. Smith, the Los Angeles native, pulled out the first set, 7-5, but trailed 3-4 in the second before she reeled off three games in a row to clinch the win, 6-4. Smith recognized that she especially wanted to send the seniors out with a win. "I think, for me, I did it with a little bit more energy because it was Senior Day. Senior Day was an inspiration for me," said Smith.
The Huskies look forward to finishing the regular season on the road next weekend. They play California in Berkeley at 1:30 pm Friday and Stanford in Palo Alto at 12 pm Saturday.
Washington Women's Tennis
April 2, 2011 - Seattle, Wash.
Nordstrom Tennis Center
#25 Washington 4, #46 Sacramento State 3
Doubles
1) Chan/Smith (UW) def. Kapshai/Delgado (Sac St), 8-1
2) Dy/Krsljanin (UW) def. Meliuk/Baca (Sac St), 8-6
3) Pavlovic/Radunovic (UW) def. Lohscheidt/Zivanovic (Sac St), 7-6 (8-4)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1) (20) Venise Chan (UW) def. Tatsiana Kapshai (Sac St), 6-2, 6-0
2) (5) Denise Dy (UW) def. Rebeca Delgado (Sac St), 6-0, 6-1
3) Samantha Smith (UW) Maria Meliuk (Sac St), 7-5, 6-4
4) Clarisse Baca (Sac St) def. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW), 6-2, 6-4
5) Sophie Lohscheidt (Sac St) def. Vanja Radunovic (UW), 6-2, 6-1
6) Milica Zivanovic (Sac St) def. Kelli Feeley (UW), 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 6, 5, 4, 3
Players Mentioned
