University of Washington
UC Santa Barbara
Dawgs Defend Home Court Against UC Santa Barbara
February 25, 2017 | Women's Tennis
SEATTLE – The Washington women's tennis team had a quick turnaround from yesterday's match, but came to play this morning at the Nordstrom Tennis Center, defeating UC Santa Barbara 7-0 for their 10th win on the season.
Going with the same pairings as yesterday, the Huskies continued their success by clinching the doubles point to begin today's match. All three matches remained close to start, with the score hitting 3-3 at one point on each court. Katarina Kopcalic and Lana Slavica fell in their match on court three 6-3, before Stacey Fung and Kenadi Hance took court two 6-3 over 41st ranked Melissa Baker and Stephanie Yamada. Facing No. 52 Palina Dubavets and Stefani Stojic on court one, Nour Abbes and Miki Kobayashi were able to clinch the doubles point for the Dawgs with a 6-3 win.
"We came out and played really well in doubles and set the tone early," said head coach Robin Stephenson. "We used the momentum from clinching the doubles point heading into singles."
In singles the Huskies grabbed first set victories on five of the six courts, including Abbes on court two, who won her second set 6-3 to put the Dawgs up 2-0.
"It was very important for me to stay focused and try to get the point on the scoreboard and keep us rolling after doing such a good job with doubles," said Abbes.
After picking up her 10th dual match singles win on the season yesterday, Hance defeated Melissa Baker on court five 6-3, 6-1 to continue her stellar play this season. To clinch the match, Fung defeated 113th ranked Dubavets for her 15th singles win this year, locking in Washington's 10th victory of the season.
"I'm so proud of how everyone played today with a lot of intensity and heart," said Fung. "I'm really happy with my performance today and can't wait to get back out on the home court next weekend."
On court six Kopcalic took the first set of her match 6-2 and came out on top of a tough second set 7-5 to pick up her 14th victory this year. Up 5-0, the remaining two matches went to tie-breaker third sets, with Alexis Prokopuik defeating Stojic 7-2 in the tie-break, and Kobayashi coming back to defeat Natalie Da Silveira 3-6, 7-6, 10-7
"The biggest thing from today was even when the girls weren't playing their best tennis, they competed extremely well on every court," said Stephenson. "I think we've come a long way since January and are improving with every match."
The Huskies are back in action in the Nordstrom Tennis Center next weekend, hosting Oklahoma State on Friday March 3rd and Northwestern on Sunday the 5th.
RESULTS
No. 34 Washington – 7
UC Santa Barbara – 0
Doubles
1 – Abbes/Kobayashi (UW) def. No. 52 Dubavets/Stojic (UCSB) 6-3
2 – Fung/Hance (UW) def. No. 41 Baker/Yamada (UCSB) 6-3
3 –Da Silveira/Gilbertson (UCSB) def. Kopcalic/Slavica (UCSB) 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1 – Stacey Fung (UW) def. No. 113 Palina Dubavets (UCSB) 6-3, 6-2
2 – Nour Abbes (UW) def. Jaimee Gilbertson (UCSB) 6-2, 6-3
3 – Miki Kobayashi (UW) def. Natalie Da Silveira (UCSB) 3-6, 7-6(10-7)
4 – Alexis Prokopuik (UW) def. Stefani Stojic (UCSB) 6-4, 7-6(7-2)
5 – Kenadi Hance (UW) def. Melissa Baker (UCSB) 6-3, 6-1
6 – Katarina Kopcalic (UW) def. Stephanie Yamada (UCSB) 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: 2, 5, 1, 6, 4, 3
Players Mentioned
