SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women's tennis team had its three-match winning streak and its nine-match home winning streak snapped, falling to No. 7 California, 5-2, on Sunday at the Aztec Tennis Center.
The Aztecs (6-2) matched the Golden Bears (6-3), a program that currently features four nationally-ranked singles players and a nationally-ranked doubles team, for most of the afternoon. Including in doubles, where California needed a tiebreaker win on the deciding match to gain the point.
"We played a great match today, our highest level of tennis so far this year," San Diego State head coach Peter Mattera said. "We had a couple critical moments that we let slip, but I really think this match showed the team how good we are and will help us get even better as the year progresses."
San Diego State took the first match of the day, at number one singles. Bunyawi Thamchaiwat and Tamara Arnold, who have played at the top of the doubles lineup for all but one match this season, were winners over Haley Giavara and Valentina Ivanov, 6-4. The pair improved to 6-1 on the season.
California struck back with a win on court three, where Jessica Alsola and Hannah Viller Moeller defeated Regina Pitts and Cécile Morin, 6-4.
That left the doubles point to court two. San Diego State's Nnena Nadozie and Alicia Melosch battled Erin Richardson and Julia Rosenqvist to the end, dropping a 7-6 (7) decision to the Golden Bears pair.
San Diego State quickly drew even in the team score, with Pitts defeating Rosenqvist, 6-1, 6-1, on court four. For Pitts, it was a strong bounce-back effort after suffering a three-set loss, the first of her season, on Friday in the team victory over Hawai'i.
California won the next three singles matches to clinch the team victory. On court six, California's Makenna Thiel was a 6-1, 6-0 victor over Morin, while on court five, 99th-ranked Viller Moeller defeated Melosch, 6-1, 6-2. The Golden Bears clincher came on court three, with 110th-ranked Ivanov posting a 6-2, 6-2 win over Nadozie.
The teams split the final two matches, with Cal claiming number two and the Aztecs winning at the top of the singles lineup.
On court two, 51st-ranked Alsola disposed of Arnold, 6-3, 6-1. In the match of the day on court one, Thamchaiwat, ranked 80th nationally, outlasted Giavara, 6-1, 5-7, 11-9. The victory improved the Aztec senior to 7-0 this calendar year.
Up Next
After playing two highly competitive matches in three days, the Aztecs are off until Wednesday, March 2, when they will travel across town to face San Diego at 1:30 p.m. PT. After that, the Aztecs will have five consecutive matches at home.
Women's Tennis: No. 7 California 5, San Diego State 2
Singles
1. No. 80 Bunyawi Thamchaiwat (SDSU) def. Haley Giavara (Cal) – 6-1, 5-7, 11-9
2. No. 51 Jessica Alsola (Cal) def. Tamara Arnold (SDSU) – 6-3, 6-1
3. No. 110 Valentina Ivanov (Cal) def. Nnena Nadozie (SDSU) – 6-2, 6-2
4. Regina Pitts (SDSU) def. Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) – 6-1, 6-1
5. No. 99 Hannah Viller Moeller (Cal) def. Alicia Melosch (SDSU) – 6-1, 6-2
6. Makenna Thiel (Cal) def. Cécile Morin (SDSU) – 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Bunyawi Thamchaiwat / Tamara Arnold (SDSU) def. Haley Giavara / Valentina Ivanov (Cal) – 6-4
2. Erin Richardson / Julia Rosenqvist (Cal) def. Nnena Nadozie / Alicia Melosch (SDSU) – 7-6 (7)
3. Jessica Alsola / Hannah Viller Moeller def. Regina Pitts / Cécile Morin (SDSU) – 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (4, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1)
Team Records: San Diego State (6-2), California (6-3)