April 29, 2010
LAS VEGAS - The fifth-seeded and 67th-ranked San Diego State women's tennis team rallied on two different occasions to defeat fourth-seeded and No. 73 Brigham Young, 4-2, in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Championship Thursday afternoon at Fertitta Tennis Complex. The win improves SDSU's record to 14-10, while the Cougars fall to 9-13.
The Aztecs fell behind early after dropping the doubles point. Roxanne and Sierra Ellison held a 3-2 lead over No. 40 McCall Jones and Megan Price, but the BYU duo rallied and wound up posting an 8-6 victory at the top of the order. Then at No. 3, Alicia Aguilar and Olivia Colman stayed within striking distance of Elizaveta Ezhova and Chie Hayasaka, but ultimately fell in a tight match, 9-7. With the point already decided, Julia Trunk and Julia Wais' contest at No. 2 was abandoned.
San Diego State tied the match when Emma Cioffi made quick work of Ezhova at No. 6 by posting a 6-0, 6-4 victory. BYU, however, answered with an identical 6-0, 6-4 win at first singles as the 40th-ranked Jones downed No. 61 Trunk to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
Facing their second deficit of the afternoon, SDSU roared back with back-to-back wins at Nos. 4 and 3. Roxanne Ellison knotted the match at 2 apiece after cruising to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elle Carney at the fourth slot. Moments later, Wais, who took the first set 6-3, rallied in the second set of her match with Hayasaka and posted the 6-3, 7-6 win at No. 3 to give the Aztecs their first lead of the day.
With two matches left and both well into the third set, San Diego State put BYU in a position where it needed to win both matches. At this point, however, Aguilar was leading in the third, 5-2, at No. 2 and Sierra Ellison was trailing, 4-1, at No. 5. Aguilar, the MWC Freshman of the Year, put any thoughts of a Brigham Young comeback to rest, when she defeated Kristina Doerr, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to put the Aztecs in the Friday's semifinal. Sierra Ellison's match at No. 5 was abandoned as a result of Aguilar's victory.
San Diego State moves on in the bracket and will face top-seeded Utah, which was a 4-0 winner over Colorado State today, on Friday at 2 p.m. PT. The winner will advance to Saturday's final, which is slated for 2 p.m. PT.
2010 Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship
(5) No. 67 San Diego State 4, (4) No. 73 Brigham Young 2
Quarterfinal Round - Fertitta Tennis Complex (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Doubles
1. No. 40 McCall Jones/Megan Price (BYU) def. Roxanne Ellison/Sierra Ellison (SDSU), 8-6
2. Kristina Doerr/Elle Carney (BYU) vs. Julia Trunk/Julia Wais (SDSU), 5-4 DNF
3. Elizaveta Ezhova/Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Alicia Aguilar/Olivia Colman (SDSU), 9-7
Brigham Young wins doubles point.
Singles
1. No. 40 McCall Jones (BYU) def. No. 61 Julia Trunk (SDSU), 6-0, 6-4
2. No. 96 Alicia Aguilar (SDSU) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
3. Julia Wais (SDSU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU), 6-3, 7-6
4. Roxanne Ellison (SDSU) def. Elle Carney (BYU), 6-3, 6-3
5. Megan Price (BYU) vs. Sierra Ellison (SDSU), 5-7, 6-4, 4-2 DNF
6. Emma Cioffi (SDSU) def. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU), 6-0, 6-4
Order of finish
Doubles: 1, 2
Singles: 6, 1, 4, 3, 2*
*Clinching match