College Tennis Teams - Cal State Northridge - Team News - Matadors Fall Just Short in Upset Bid of No. 49 UC Irvine

The Cal State Northridge women's tennis team (9-10, 3-4 BWC) dropped a narrow 4-3 decision Friday against No. 49 UC Irvine at the Matador Tennis Complex. The Matadors took the doubles point and freshmen Evgeniya Vertesheva and Nigora Sirojiddinova picked up singles wins for CSUN.

After missing Wednesday's match against Dartmouth, Vertesheva earned a pair of victories for Northridge against the Anteaters. She and Brooke Doane moved to 14-2 on the season at the top doubles spot, defeating Clare Fermin and Rebecca Kwan, 8-6.

The Matadors then won the doubles point as Whitney Paluch and Sandra Kukla won 8-5 over Ali Borowicz and Heidi Kaloi at the third spot. Nigora Sirojiddinova and Nina Jaworowski dropped their second-seeded doubles match, 8-4, to Miranda Young and Courtney Byron.

In singles, Vertesheva improved to 9-9 overall and 4-3 against Big West opponents with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Stephanie Hammel. All of Vertesheva's matches in both doubles and singles have been at the No. 1 seed.

Sirojiddinova won the third point for head coach Gary Victor and the Matadors, defeating Kaloi in three sets, 6-0, 4-6 and 6-2, in the fifth-seeded match. She is now 10-9 on the season and 4-3 against Big West opponents.

However, UCI would win at two, three, four and six to take the decision. Jaworowski fell 6-1, 6-3 to Byron at No. 2 and Doane lost 6-3, 6-1 to Fermin at the third spot. Paluch also lost in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (6) at No. 4 and Borowicz defeated Kukla at the sixth spot for the deciding point, 6-7 (4), 6-3 and 6-4.

Northridge will have very little time to rest, as the Matadors return to the court Saturday for a match against Harvard. First serve at the Matador Tennis Complex is set for noon.

UC Irvine 4, CSUN 3

Doubles

1. Vertesheva/Doane (CSUN) def. Kwan/Fermin (UCI) 8-6

2. Byron/M. Young(UCI) def. Jaworowski/Sirojiddinova (CSUN) 8-4

3. Paluch/Kukla (CSUN) def. Borowicz/Kaloi (UCI) 8-5

Singles

1. Vertesheva (CSUN) def. Hammel (UCI) 6-1, 6-1

2. Byron (UCI) def. Jaworowski (CSUN) 6-1, 6-3

3. Fermin (UCI) def. Doane (CSUN) 6-3, 6-1

4. Kwan (UCI) def. Paluch (CSUN) 6-2, 7-6 (6)

5. Sirojiddinova (CSUN) def. Kaloi (UCI) 6-0, 4-6, 6-2

6. Borowicz (UCI) def. Kukla (CSUN) 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4

Comment:

Required !