49ers
come up one match short
Staff Reports
On-line Forty-Niner
 After
a horrendous 0-3 start to the season the
Long Beach State women’s tennis team fought
its way back to the Big West Conference
Championship match only to be stopped by
Cal Poly 4-1.
The Beach entered the BWC championships
as the No.2 seed and cruised to a third
consecutive final.
In the quarterfinals at the Blackhawk Country
Club in Danville, Calif. the 49ers dispatched
the University of Idaho with relative ease,
4-0. Junior Alena Kovalchuk defeated Idaho’s
Barbora Kudilkova 6-3, 6-2 in the No.1 singles
match to get The Beach started.
In the No.2 singles spot 49er sophomore
Laura Thomas had to play a third set, but
still came away victorious, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2,
against Sunel Niewoudt. Lindsey Marvel trounced
her opponent, Vida Senci, in the third singles
match 6-0, 6-2 to give the 49ers a commanding
lead.
Kelly Chan would seal the victory for The
Beach with a 6-0, 7-6 (2) victory over Idaho’s
Monica Martin.
The 14-7 49ers faced UC Irvine Saturday
afternoon in the conference semifinals and
walked away with an impressive 4-1 victory.
Long Beach won two doubles matches to take
the doubles points as the tandem of Chan
and Thomas beat UC Irvine’s Anna Bentzer
and Christie Posner 8-5 in the first match.
While 49ers Claudia Argumedo and Alanah
Carroll crushed Amy Tranckino and Hui Leow
of Irvine 8-1.
The Beach put the match away in singles
as they won three games. Kovalchuk won her
No.1 singles match 6-1, 6-3, while Claudia
Argumedo cruised in the fourth singles position
to a 6-3, 6-3 victory. Long Beach State
set its sights on a conference championship
when Alanah Carroll put the Anteaters away
with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the sixth singles
match.
Sunday’s conference final would see the
49ers second consecutive conference championship
bid fall to ruins.
The No.1 seeded Cal Poly Mustangs (20-6)
jumped out to an early lead, winning two
of the three doubles matches. Danielle Hustedt
and Kate Romm defeated Marvel and Kovalchuk
8-3 as Cal Poly’s Chelsey Thompson and Kristen
Grady took a one-sided victory from Argumedo
and Carroll, 8-1.
The match would be decided in singles play
as Cal Poly won three out of four finished
matches.
Mustangs Sheila Lewis and Romm won their
fifth and sixth matches. Lewis defeated
Chan 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 as Romm went 6-3, 6-2
against Carroll to take the victory. Lindsey
Marvel gave The Beach a ray of hope in her
third match victory over Thompson 6-3, 6-4,
but Cal Poly’s Samantha Walker defeated
Thomas 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 in the second singles
match to secure a 4-1 victory and the Big
West Championship for the Mustangs.
With the victory Cal Poly receives an automatic
bid to the NCAA tournament, while 56th ranked
Long Beach State must hope for an at-large
bid when NCAA bids are announced today.
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