University of Washington
Arizona
Dawgs Sweep Arizona 7-0
April 07, 2017 | Women's Tennis
SEATTLE β The 31st ranked Washington women's tennis team picked up their fourth Pac-12 win of the season today, defeating Arizona 7-0 at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
"A couple of our goals today were to play doubles on our terms and get that point, and to play the entire match as one," said head coach Robin Stephenson. "We accomplished both of those goals and really took a step in the right direction."
The Huskies opened up the match by claiming the first doubles match to finish, with Stacey Fung and Kenadi Hance moving to 7-2 in dual match play together on a 6-1 win. On court three, Katarina Kopcalic and Lana Slavica clinched the doubles point for the Dawgs with a 6-2 victory over Samantha Czarniak and Marie Van Aelst. On court one, Nour Abbes and Miki Kobayashi's match went unfinished.
In singles the Dawgs claimed the first set on five of six courts, led by Kopcalic who finished her match first on court six to give UW a 2-0 lead. Continuing to roll after her big win against USC last weekend, Hance moved to 16-3 in dual matches with a 6-0, 6-2 win on court four. On court five Alexis Prokopuik sealed the win for Washington, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sophia Thomas to move UW's record to 15-5 on the year.
"We competed as one heartbeat today, everyone was so fired up and we didn't let anything stop us from shutting it down," said Prokopuik. "This is another huge win for the team."
On court three, Abbes dropped a tough first set to Camila Wesbrooks by falling in the tie-break 7-4, but rebounded quick, sweeping the second set 6-0 before winning the tie-break set 10-0 to put UW up 5-0. Playing at the No. 2 position for only the third time this season, last week's Pac-12 Player of the Week Kobayashi came out on top of her first set by winning the tie-break 7-4 and clinched the win with a 6-0 win in the second.
Attention turned to the big matchup on court one, as 50th ranked Fung was in a battle with another top-ranked opponent, No. 27 Lauren Marker. With a tough win in the first set 7-5, Fung was able to complete the sweep for UW with a 6-3 second set victory, her second-straight victory over a top-30 ranked opponent.
"I'm super proud of how we came out firing in doubles," said Fung. "Our passion and fight flowed over in to singles where we all took care of business."
This was Washington's fourth 7-0 win on the season, and sixth shutout. Picking up their 15th win this year, this is the most victories for the Huskies since the 2009 season when the team went 18-8 and reached the Sweet 16.
"We have talked a lot about being an April and May team and the girls are stepping up and competing the right way, the UW way," said Stephenson. "I am proud of the entire team up and down the line for their determination and how poised they all were out there. We are looking forward to a battle on Sunday for senior day."
The Dawgs are back in action on Sunday at 11 a.m. when they host No. 36 Arizona State at Bill Quillian Tennis Stadium with weather permitting. Being the final home match of the 2017 regular season, the Huskies will honor Abbes for senior day before the match begins.
RESULTS
No. 31 Washington β 7
Arizona β 0
Doubles
1 β No. 44 Abbes/Kobayashi (UW) vs. Corley/Marker (UA) 4-4 (DNF)
2 β Fung/Hance (UW) def. Thomas/Wesbrooks (UA) 6-1
3 β Kopcalic/Slavica (UW) def. Czarniak/Van Aelst (UA) 6-2
Order of finish: 2, 3
Singles
1 β No. 50 Stacey Fung (UW) def. No. 27 Lauren Marker (UA) 7-5, 6-3
2 β No. 123 Miki Kobayashi (UW) def. No. 113 Lauren Corley (UA) 7-6(4), 6-0
3 β Nour Abbes (UW) def. Camila Wesbrooks (UA) 6-7(4), 6-0, 1-0 (10-0)
4 β Kenadi Hance (UW) def. Marie Van Aelst (UA) 6-0, 6-2
5 β Alexis Prokopuik (UW) def. Sophia Thomas (UA) 6-2, 6-2
6 β Katarina Kopcalic (UW) def. Elena Schneider (UA) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 6, 4, 5, 3, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
