University of Washington
Sacramento State
Dawgs Take Home Opener Over Hornets, 6-1
February 10, 2012 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 10, 2012
SEATTLE - For the past seven years, an annual rite of passage for the Husky women's tennis team was a 4-3 battle with Sacramento State. Several times the Huskies were upset victims, but they pulled off some wins as the lower-ranked team as well, all heading for the close-as-can-be 4-3 finish. Today in their home opener, the 28th-ranked Huskies (4-1) broke the jinx, handling the 49th-ranked Hornets, 6-1, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
"I told the girls before the match I just wanted to break the streak," said Head Coach Jill Hulquist. "It's always 4-3, 4-3, I said let's go out and change that. We've got a lot of fighters on the court, and it's fun to watch them compete."
Still, after winning the doubles point and all six first sets in singles, the Hornets hung around and make UW sweat until sophomore Andjela Nemcevic fought for a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles over Clarisse Baca that clinched it. From there, freshman Capucine Gregoire bounced back from a frustrating second set to beat Sophie Lohscheidt, 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 at No. 4 singles, and freshman Riko Shimizu held on for a 6-2, 7-6 (7) win at sixth singles over Maria Meliuk to put UW up 6-0. A marathon third set super-tiebreak ended it at No. 5 singles, where a third frosh, Natali Coronel, gave a huge effort but lost, 16-14, to Katharina Koebl for the Hornets only point.
Washington's two seniors were the first to finish in singles. 10th-ranked All-American Denise Dy improved to 5-0 at the No. 1 singles spot this season with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Tatsiana Kapshai. Since the start of her sophomore year, Dy is 39-4 in dual matches. Samantha Smith also closed out a 6-2, 6-4 win at second singles over Rebeca Delgado, giving UW a 3-0 lead.
The Huskies got a great comeback at the No. 3 doubles match to help clinch the day's first point. Coronel and Shimizu trailed 0-4 to Knoebl and Lohscheidt, but won seven of the next eight games and then served it out for an 8-6 win. That came after Dy and Smith romped to an 8-1 victory at No. 1 doubles over Kapshai and Delgado.
Washington will remain at home next weekend with a match against Portland on Saturday, Feb. 18, followed by a big dual against Texas A&M on Sunday the 19th.
Washington Women's Tennis
Nordstrom Tennis Center - Seattle, Wash.
February 10, 2012
No. 28 Washington 6; No. 49 Sacramento State 1
Doubles
2. Baca/Meliuk (Sac St) def. Nemcevic/Gregoire (UW), 8-3
3. Coronel/Shimizu (UW) def. Knoebl/Lohscheidt (Sac St), 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. (10) Denise Dy (UW) def. Tatsiana Kapshai (Sac St), 6-1, 6-2
2. Samantha Smith (UW) def. Rebeca Delgado (Sac St), 6-2, 6-4
3. Andjela Nemcevic (UW) def. Clarisse Baca (Sac St), 6-4, 6-3
4. Capucine Gregoire (UW) def. Sophie Lohscheidt (Sac St), 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
5. Katharina Knoebl (Sac St) def. Natali Coronel (UW), 4-6, 6-4, (16-14)
6. Riko Shimizu (UW) def. Maria Meliuk (Sac St), 6-2, 7-6 (7)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 5
