College Tennis News - Bulldogs Edge Waves 4-3

MALIBU, Calif. – After a narrow loss in doubles, the #33 Pepperdine women’s tennis team was unable to recover in singles and fell 4-3 to #56 Fresno State. Despite the defeat, Khunpak Issara and Lorraine Guillermo played strong and were victorious in both singles and doubles.

Issara (Bangkok, Thailand/Bangkok Patana School) and Guillermo (Walnut, Calif./Rowland HS) opened the morning with an 8-4 triumph over Rana Sherif Ahmed and Aishwarya Agrawal. Although the Bulldogs struck first and took an early 1-0 lead in the match, the Wave duo quickly regained control of the contest to put their first tally in the win column in 2013.

Issara and Guillermo, ranked #4 in the ITA doubles rankings, have now accrued 21 victories over two seasons (dual match play only). With just four more wins, the pair will rank fifth in the career wins category in the program’s record book.

In the No. 2 match, Megan Moore (Portland, Ore./Jesuit HS) and Michaela Capannolo (Hawthorn, Australia/Genazzano FCJ College) fell behind 2-5 to Bianca Modoc and Sophie Watts before winning three-straight games to knot the score at five. The come-back was short lived, however, and the Fresno State team won 8-5.

With the doubles point still in the balance, all eyes fell on the No. 3 match. Ale Granillo (Pachuca, Mexico/Instituto Hidalgo) and Danielle Feneridis (Auckland, New Zealand/Westlake Girls HS) were battling in a close contest vs. Melissa McQueen and Anne Susdorf. Although Granillo and Feneridis led 7-4, they were unable to hold on for the victory and fell 7-3 in the tiebreaker.

It was an uphill fight for Pepperdine (0-2) in singles, forced with the task of winning four of the six singles matches in order to clinch the team win.

Granillo put the Waves on the board with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Modoc, followed by Guillermo’s straight-set win at No. 1 to put the Waves up 2-1.

Fresno State (2-1) went up once again after Watts and Susdorf won at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.

Anneka Watts put point No. 4 on the board for the Bulldogs, defeating Abigail Phillips (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) 6-2, 6-3 to secure the team win.

Issara finished up her day with a 7-6, 6-3 triumph against McQueen on court two.

The Waves are back in action next week Friday at Saturday (Feb. 8 and 9) for duals vs. UC Irvine and Stanford. Both contests are slated for a 1 p.m. start.

Fresno State vs Pepperdine
Feb 01, 2013 at
#56 Fresno State 4, #33 Pepperdine 3
Singles
1. #104 Lorraine Guillermo (PEP) def. Aishwarya Agrawal (FRESNO) 6-2, 6-1
2. #92 Khunpak Issara (PEP) def. Melissa McQueen (FRESST) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
3. Ale Granillo (PEP) def. Bianca Modoc (FRESST) 6-2, 7-5
4. Sophie Watts (FRESST) def. Michaela Capannolo (PEP) 6-2, 6-3
5. Anne Susdorf (FRESST) def. Megan Moore (PEP) 6-4, 6-0
6. Anneka Watts (FRESST) def. Abigail Phillips (PEP) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles
1. #4 Khunpak Issara/Lorraine Guillermo (PEP) def. Rana Sherif Ahmed/Aishwarya Agrawal (FRESNO) 8-4
2. Bianca Modoc/Sophie Watts (FRESNO) def. Megan Moore/Michaela Capannolo (PEP) 8-5
3. Melissa McQueen/Anne Susdorf (FRESNO) def. Danielle Feneridis/Ale Granillo (PEP) 8-7 (3)

Match Notes:
Fresno State 2-1; National ranking #56
Pepperdine 0-2; National ranking #33
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,1,4,5,6,2)
Pepperdine Waves