NO. 47 WOMEN'S TENNIS DOWNS NO. 56 UC IRVINE, 4-3

2/26/2010

IRVINE, Calif. - The No. 47 ranked Sacramento State women's tennis team swept doubles play and won the first three singles matches to be completed, defeating the No. 56 ranked UC Irvine Anteaters by a score of 4-3 on Friday, Feb. 26.

With the victory, the Hornets improve to 7-3 on the season, while UC Irvine falls to 3-4.

Sophomore Maria Meliuk and senior Aileen Tsan started the sweep of doubles play with an 8-3 victory over sisters' Hayley and Miranda Young at No. 3 doubles. Freshman Rebeca Delgado and sophomore Tatsiana Kapshai then clinched the point at No. 2 doubles, outlasting Brooke Bartlett and Kristina Smith by a score of 9-7. Sophomore Clarisse Baca and senior Katrina Zheltova then completed the clean sweep with a 9-8 win at the No. 1 position over Courtney Byron and Stephanie Hammel, giving Sacramento State a doubles sweep in their last two matches.

Singles play opened for the Hornets with Tsan winning her fifth straight match, a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over Hannah Hollday at No. 6 singles, giving the Hornets a 2-0 advantage in the match. The lead grew to 3-0 after Delgado took home a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Becka Kwan at No. 4 singles. Kapshai then wrapped up the match for Sacramento State, posting a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Bartlett at No. 3 singles to give Sacramento State a 4-0 lead.

UC Irvine would go on to win the final three matches in three sets to pull the final score to 4-3.

The Hornets continue a three-game road swing in Southern California, taking on No. 65 San Diego State on Saturday and No. 60 San Diego on Sunday.


#47 Sacramento State 4, #56 UC Irvine 3
Feb 26, 2010 at Irvine, Calif. (Anteater Stadium)

Singles competition
1. HAMMEL, Stephanie (UCI) def. #46 ZHELTOVA, Katrina (SAC) 7-5, 1-6, 7-5
2. BYRON, Courtney (UCI) def. MELIUK, Maria (SAC) 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
3. KAPSHAI, Tatsiana (SAC) def. BARTLETT, Brooke (UCI) 6-3, 6-1
4. DELGADO, Rebeca (SAC) def. KWAN, Becka (UCI) 6-3, 6-4
5. SMITH, Kristina (UCI) def. BACA, Clarisse (SAC) 2-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-6)
6. TSAN, Aileen (SAC) def. HOLLADAY, Hannah (UCI) 6-0, 6-1

Doubles competition
1. BACA, Clarisse/ZHELTOVA, Katrina (SAC) def. BYRON, Courtney/HAMMEL, Stephanie (UCI) 9-8
2. DELGADO, Rebeca/KAPSHAI, Tatsiana (SAC) def. BARTLETT, Brooke/SMITH, Kristina (UCI) 9-7
3. MELIUK, Maria/TSAN, Aileen (SAC) def. YOUNG, Hayley/YOUNG, Miranda (UCI) 8-3

Match Notes
Sacramento State 7-3; National ranking #47
UC Irvine 3-4; National ranking #56
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (6,4,3,2,5,1)