SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women’s tennis captured the doubles point and battled to three victories in a tough singles competition on its way to the team’s fourth win of the season, defeating Loyola Marymount 4-2 at the Aztec Tennis Center on Friday.
The Aztecs improve to 4-1 on the season while the Lions fall to 4-3.
“Winning the doubles point was big,” said Head Coach Nicolas Vinel. “We’ve been playing well in doubles, and it was nice to see that we were able to keep that momentum going in singles. It was a great start to the day and put us in a good position to win.”
No. 32 Jo-Yee Chan and Vessa Turley claimed the first win of the day, earning a 6-1 win over Ada Piestrzynska and Anastasia Bozova on court one in doubles competition. Gloria Alogo and Liisa Varul then clinched the point with a 6-4 win against Helene Schnack and Kim-Michaela Zahraj in the third spot. Jayna Clemens and Ninon Martinache were down 5-4 against Sofia Perovani and Lidia Gonzalez on court two when the point was captured.
Martinache quickly added another point for the Aztecs, taking court two 6-3, 6-2 over Piestrzynska before the Lions responded with a victory on court five where Varul was downed 6-0, 6-3 by Perovani, bringing the match score to 2-1.
The Aztecs extended their lead after earning their third point from court three where Clemens defeated Bozova 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
LMU bounced back with a win in the sixth spot. Vesa Gjinaj fought hard in her matchup against Zahraj, but came up short 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Teja Tirunelveli clinched the team victory for San Diego State after rallying from behind to take down Schnack 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 on the fourth court.
The top court contest between No. 107 Chan and Gonzalez was left unfinished 6-3, 5-7, 5-4 in the Lion’s favor.
Next up, the team returns to the Aztec Tennis Center to take on Hawai’i at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Doubles
1. Jo-Yee Chan/Vessa Turley (SDSU) def. Ada Piestrzynska /Anastasia Bozova (LMU) 6-1
2. Sofia Perovani/Lidia Gonzalez (LMU) vs. Jayna Clemens/Ninon Martinache (SDSU) DNF 5-4
3. Gloria Alogo/Liisa Varul (SDSU) def. Helene Schnack/Kim-Michaela Zahraj (LMU) 6-4
Singles
1. Lidia Gonzalez (LMU) vs. Jo-Yee Chan (SDSU) DNF 6-3, 5-7, 5-4
2. Ninon Martinache (SDSU) def. Ada Piestrzynska (LMU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Jayna Clemens (SDSU) def. Anastasia Bozova (LMU) 6-3, 7-6
4. Teja Tirunelveli (SDSU) def. Helene Schnack (LMU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
5. Sofia Perovani (LMU) def. Liisa Varul (SDSU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Kim-Michaela Zahraj (LMU) def. Vesa Gjinaj (SDSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles: (1,3) Singles: (2,5,3,6,4)