April 17, 2011
SAN DIEGO - The 46th-ranked San Diego State women's tennis team nearly rallied from a 3-1 deficit before ultimately falling to No. 43 UNLV, 4-3, Sunday at Aztec Tennis Center. The loss dropped SDSU to 15-9 (6-2 Mountain West Conference) and ended its quest for a share of the MWC regular season title.
San Diego State lost the doubles point to start the morning. The Rebels won matches at Nos. 2 and 3 to dent the scoreboard before No. 69 Roxanne Ellison and Sierra Ellison posted an 8-6 decision over Nives Pavlovic and Aleksandra Josifoska at the top position.
In singles, UNLV (19-4; 8-0 MWC), the Mountain West regular season champions, increased its lead to 3-0 as a result of victories at Nos. 6 and 3. Anna Maskaljun was the first off the court after she defeated Olivia Colman, 6-2, 6-1. Then at No. 3, Pavlovic registered a 6-4, 6-4 win over Alicia Aguilar.
The Aztecs cut their deficit to two when Emma Cioffi won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, in her match with Adrienn Hidvegi at the fourth slot. Cioffi's triumphant effort marked her fifth consecutive victory.
SDSU pulled to within one of UNLV when Wais continued her solid play of late and logged her fifth win in a row. The sophomore downed Josifoska in three sets at the second spot in the lineup, 6-3, 0-6, 6-3.
Trailing 3-2, San Diego State needed to win each of the final two matches to claim the team victory and looked to be on the cusp of doing so.
At Nos. 1 and 5, Julia Trunk and Sierra Ellison, respectively, were embroiled in three-set battles. Trunk enjoyed a comfortable lead in the third set as did Ellison. The latter, however, could not put away her opponent, Jana Albers, and the Rebel rallied in the third set to force a tiebreaker and eventually completed the comeback to beat Ellison, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5). The point gave UNLV the win and the conference championship. Moments later, Trunk finished off No. 123 Lucia Batta in a highly entertaining affair, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Trunk's effort marked the second time this season in which she has beat a nationally ranked opponent.
Prior to the match, San Diego State honored its two seniors in Colman and Trunk as the two were playing in their final home match on Montezuma Mesa.
SDSU will return to action on Thursday, April 28, when it competes at the MWC Championship in Fort Collins, Colo. Pairings for the tournament will be announced at a later date.
No. 43 UNLV 4, No. 46 San Diego State 3
Aztec Tennis Center; San Diego, Calif.
Doubles
1. No. 69 Ellison/Ellison (SDSU) def. Pavlovic/Josifoska (UNLV), 8-6
2. Batta/Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Wais/Aguilar (SDSU), 8-2
3. Albers/Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Trunk/Cioffi (SDSU), 9-7
UNLV wins doubles point.
Singles
1. Julia Trunk (SDSU) def. No. 123 Lucia Batta (UNLV), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. Julia Wais (SDSU) def. Aleksandra Josifoska (UNLV), 6-3, 0-6, 6-3
3. Nives Pavlovic (UNLV) def. Alicia Aguilar (SDSU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Emma Cioffi (SDSU) def. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV), 6-4, 6-4
5. Jana Albers (UNLV) def. Sierra Ellison (SDSU), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
6. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Olivia Colman (SDSU), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 6, 3, 4, 2, 5*, 1
*clinching match