INDIAN WELLS, Calif.—The No. 3-seeded University of Hawai'i women's tennis team fell in a heartbreaker, 4-3 to No. 2 UC Irvine in the Big West Women's Tennis Championship semilfinals on Saturday morning. Hawai'i finishes the season with an 11-9 overall record while UC Irvine improves to 17-6 overall to advance to the finals against No. 1 Long Beach State. Hawai'i had UCI on the ropes, leading 3-1, but the Anteaters battled back to take the final three singles matches for the win.

 

UC Irvine captured the doubles point quickly with No. 2 Brooke Schweyer and Sarah Gong blanking UH's duo of Cindy Nguyen and Rebecca Faltusz, 8-0 and No. 3 Kat Facey and Sarah Stadfelt (UCI) defeating Martina Kostalova and Sarah Gealer, 8-4.

 

he Rainbow Wahine took the first three singles matches to take an early 3-1 lead. UH's Paulina Petriskova took the first set on the No. 4 court against Ali Facey, 6-2 but Facey then retired with an ankle injury after 1-1 in the second set. Hawai'i's No. 6 Kelsey Daguio then knocked off Sarah Stadfelt, 6-4, 6-1 while on the No. 1 court, Nguyen won her 11th-straight match with a straight-set victory over Sarah Gong, 6-4, 6-1. But then the tide turned and the Anteaters came charging back. UCI's No. 5 K. Facey held off Gealer, 6-4, 6-4 and then No. 3 Franziska Goettsching defeated Kostalova, 7-5, 6-2 to even the match at 3-3. The loss snapped Kostalova's 10-match win streak. On the No. 2 court, UH's Xenia Suworowa and UCI's Marivick Mamiit were locked in a 3-set battle to decide the match. Suworowa won the first set, 7-5, but Mamiit won the second set, 6-3. In the third Suworowa had an early 2-1 lead, but Mamiit then won the next five straight to seal the win for the Anteaters, 6-2.

 

Hawai'i finished the season winning nine of its last 11 matches with both losses coming from UC Irvine. Both losses to the Anteaters were heartbreaking  4-3 decisions.

 

No. 3 Hawai'i (11-9, 5-2 Big West) vs. No. 2 UC Irvine (17-6, 7-1 Big West)

Big West Conference Women's Tennis Championship – Semifinals

Indian Wells Tennis Garden

Saturday, April 26, 2014 – 9:00 am

 

Doubles Results (Order of finish: 2, 1)

No. 1 - Xenia Suworowa/Paulina Petriskova (UH) vs. Ali Facey/Franziska Goettsching (UCI), DNF

No. 2 - Brooke Schweyer/Sarah Gong (UCI) def. Cindy Nguyen/Rebecca Faltusz (UH), 8-0

No. 3 - Kat Facey/Sarah Stadfelt (UCI) def. Martina Kostalova/Sarah Gealer (UH), 8-4

 

Singles Results (Order of finish: 4, 6, 1, 5, 3, 2)

No. 1 - Cindy Nguyen (UH) def. Sarah Gong (UCI),  6-4, 6-1

No. 2 - Marivick Mamiit (UCI) def. Xenia Suworowa (UH),  5-7, 6-3, 6-2

No. 3 - Franziska Goettsching (UCI) def. Martina Kostalova (UH),  7-5, 6-2

No. 4 - Paulina Petriskova (UH) def. Ali Facey (UCI), 6-2, 1-1 (ret)

No. 5 - Kat Facey (UCI) def. Sarah Gealer (UH), 6-4, 6-4

No. 6 - Kelsey Daguio (UH) def. Sarah Stadfelt (UCI), 6-4, 6-1