April 30, 2010
LAS VEGAS - Fifth-seeded and No. 67 San Diego State upset top-seeded and 40th-ranked Utah, 4-1, in the Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship semifinals Friday afternoon at Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas, Nev. The win, which avenged an earlier loss at Utah, puts SDSU into the title match on Saturday and improves its record to 15-10. Regular-season champion Utah, meanwhile, falls to 17-7.
In doubles action, the Aztec duo of Julia Trunk and Julia Wais wasted little time at No. 2 as they blanked Erin Monson and Andrea Maughan, 8-0, to give SDSU the early edge. While Trunk and Wais were dominating on Court 2, Alicia Aguilar and Olivia Colman struggled to solve their Utah counterparts and were downed, 8-4, which tied doubles at 1-1.
In the deciding match at the top of the order, the teams of Roxanne and Sierra Ellison and the Utes' Anastasia Putilina and Paige Miles both held serve in the early going. But midway through the match, the Ellison sisters broke Utah's serve and it was the momentum-changer it needed as they went on to record the 8-5 win, which gave the Scarlet and Black a 1-0 lead in the contest.
The Aztecs doubled their lead in singles when Mountain West Freshman of the Year and No. 96 Aguilar posted a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Evgenia Kryuchkova at the second slot. The decision was the first-year Aztecs' sixth straight win as she improved to 15-7 in dual-match action.
Later, San Diego State had its lead cut in half when Sierra Ellison was downed by Lisa Johnson, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 5, but Wais earned the point back for the Aztecs after she beat Monson in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5, at No. 3. The freshman Wais' win made the score 3-1 with three matches still in progress and Roxanne Ellison being the only Aztec holding a lead.
With a berth in the title match on the line, Roxanne Ellison came through in the clutch and defeated Miles at fourth singles, 6-2, 6-4, sending the Aztecs into the final. The victory marked Ellison's fourth in a row and was SDSU's third straight-sets win of the day.
San Diego State will play for the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships on Saturday against sixth-seeded TCU. First serve is set for 2 p.m. PT. Both schools finished the MWC season in a tie for fifth place as each team compiled a 4-4 record. The Aztecs won the regular-season meeting in Las Vegas, 4-3.
2010 Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship
(5) No. 67 San Diego State 4, (1) No. 40 Utah 1
Semifinal Round - Fertitta Tennis Complex (Las Vegas, Nev.)
Doubles
1. Roxanne Ellison/Sierra Ellison (SDSU) def. Anastasia Putilina/Paige Miles (Utah), 8-5
2. Julia Trunk/Julia Wais (SDSU) def. Erin Monson/Andrea Maughan (Utah), 8-0
3. Evgenia Kryuchkova/Lisa Johnson (Utah) def. Alicia Aguilar/Olivia Colman (SDSU), 8-4
San Diego State wins doubles point.
Singles
1. No. 89 Anastasia Putilina (Utah) vs. No. 61 Julia Trunk (SDSU), 6-4, 3-2 DNF
2. No. 96 Alicia Aguilar (SDSU) def. Evgenia Kryuchkova (Utah), 6-3, 6-1
3. Julia Wais (SDSU) def. Erin Monson (Utah), 6-2, 7-5
4. Roxanne Ellison (SDSU) def. Paige Miles (Utah), 6-2, 6-4
5. Lisa Johnson (Utah) def. Sierra Ellison (SDSU), 6-4, 6-0
6. Andrea Maughan (Utah) vs. Emma Cioffi (SDSU), 6-4, 4-3 DNF
Order of finish
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 1, 5, 3, 4*
*Clinching match