The Cal State Northridge women's tennis team (11-13, 5-5 BWC) concluded its season Saturday with a 4-2 loss to Long Beach State at the Big West Championships. The Matadors took the doubles point, as Nina Jaworowski andNigora Sirojiddinova outlasted Deborah Armstrong and Lisa Sutton, 9-7, in the No. 2 doubles match and Sirojiddinova won her fifth-seeded singles match.
In the No.1 doubles match, Brooke Doane and Evgeniya Vertesheva defeated Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks, 8-2, to finish the season 19-2 overall and a perfect 10-0 against Big West opponents.
The No. 2 draw would prove to be the deciding match as Sandra Kukla and Whitney Paluch fell 8-6 to Anais Dallara and Rachel Manasse. Jaworowski and Sirojiddinova finished the season 11-11 overall and 5-5 against Big West opponents. Kukla and Paluch were 8-4 on the season and 3-2 against Big West opponents.
In singles action, Sirojiddinova was the third individual winner, taking a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Julie Luzar. She ended her freshman campaign with a 14-10 overall record and a 7-3 mark against Big West opponents.
The Matadors would drop the other four singles matches completed on the day. Vertesheva lost 6-1, 6-4 to Grady at No.1 and Jaworowski lost 6-4, 6-3 to Manasse at No. 2. A sophomore, Jaworowski finished the year 14-8 overall and 5-5 in league matches. In her rookie season, Vertesheva was 11-12 overall and 4-6 in league matches, all at the top draw for head coach Gary Victor.
At No. 3, Doane lost 6-0, 6-2 to Armstrong and Paluch fell 7-6 (3) and 6-2 to Dallara in the fourth-seeded match. Doane was 10-11 on the year and 5-4 against league foes, while Paluch was 8-15 overall and 3-6 in league matches.
In what was the final match of her intercollegiate career, Kukla did not finish her sixth-seeded match with Sutton.
Long Beach State will aim for its seventh-straight Big West Conference title against UC Irvine on Sunday.
