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49ers
fall in NCAA tournament to Huskies
By
Michelle Smith
Daily Forty- Niner
Staff Writer
On
May 13 the 2004-2005 season for the Long
Beach State women's tennis came to an
end. The 49ers were defeated 4-0 in the
opening round match of the NCAA Tournament
by No. 25-ranked University of Washington
at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.
With
the win, The Huskies improved to 15-8
overall, while the No. 59-ranked 49ers
finished their season at 15-11. The Beach
appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the
second straight year and fell on the
same court as they did in 2004, when
they were defeated by UCLA.
The
49ers are 5-3 all-time against the University
of Washington, but the two schools had
not met on the court since 1997. Washington
won that match 6-3 in Long Beach. Prior
to 1997, the two clubs met in 1987 in
Long Beach and the 49ers prevailed 8-1.
Going into the tournament the Huskies
were the No. 2 seed in the bracket, and
the 49ers the No. 3 seed.
The
Huskies won the first point of the afternoon
by winning two out of three games in
doubles play. On Court 1, the 49er duo
of senior Nicole Bouffler and sophomore
Sandra Rocha were unable to defeat partners
junior Dinka Hadzic and senior Dea Sumantri,
who are ranked No. 60 in the country,
losing by a score of 8-3.
At
Court 2, Junior Alanah Carroll and partner
sophomore Rachael Porsz teamed up and
defeated senior Mugette Ahn and sophomore
Saskia Nauenberg 8-4. The match was tied
at 3-3, when the 49ers took the momentum
and won the next three games to take
a 6-3 lead, and finish with an 8-4 victory.
The
deciding match came down to Court 3 where
The Huskies' sophomore Monika Kolbovic
and freshman Tara Simpson won 8-4 over
freshman Stephanie Bengson and sophomore
Krystina Katayama. The match was tied
at 4-4 before the Huskies took charge
winning the final four games in a row
to clinch the point.
In
singles play, the Huskies took control
as well, winning the first set in all
six matches. Finishing first was Simpson,
who defeated Porsz at court 4, 6-2, 6-2.
At Court 1, Bouffler was unable to surpass
Sumantri, who is ranked No. 18 nationally
in singles, losing 6-2, 6-2. The match
was clinched at Court 3, where Nauenberg
defeated Rocha 7-5, 6-2. The three other
singles matches did not finish, but the
Huskies won the first set in all three
matches.
Friday's
game marked the third NCAA Tournament
appearance for The Beach. The 49ers won
the Big West Championship in 2002, 2004
and 2005 and have participated in the
championship match of the conference
tournament five consecutive years.
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