LAS VEGAS – San Diego State women’s tennis earned a spot in Saturday’s Mountain West Championship after taking down Grand Canyon 4-2 in the semifinals at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas on Friday. The top-seeded Aztecs will take on the three seed, UNLV, at 11 a.m. tomorrow.
With Friday’s win, San Diego State improves to a 20-3 overall record. It is just the eighth 20+ win season in program history, and the first since the 2013 campaign.
The Lopes took an early lead after securing the doubles point. Gloria Alogo and Liisa Varul fell 6-3 to Hams Metwally and Amalia Suciu on court three. Jo-Yee Chan and Vessa Turley then took court one 6-4 over Isabella Crossman and Dania Deaifi. The point came down to court two, where Jayna Clemens and Ninon Martinache were bested 6-3 by Gala Arangio and Karina Hofbauer.
The Aztecs bounced back with a quick win on court one in singles competition. Chan added the team’s first point after defeating Crossman 6-2, 6-2 in the top spot.
Metwally regained the lead for Grand Canyon, taking court four 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 against Vesa Gjinaj.
The remaining four matches all went to three sets in a battle for a ticket to the conference championship. The Aztecs took the first set on three of the courts, with Alogo outscoring Hofbauer 6-4 on court two, Teja Tirunelveli notching a 6-2 win against Deaifi on the fifth court and Varul tallying a 6-2 win against Suciu in the sixth spot. The Lopes rallied in their second sets. Hofbauer earned a 6-4 win, while Deaifi took a 6-3 victory and Suciu took the second set by the same score. Tirunelveli was the first to put her match away, taking down Deaifi 7-5 in the third set. Varul then added another point for the Aztecs with a 6-4 win over Suciu.
Clemens was the clincher for San Diego State in another three set thriller. After falling 6-1 to Arangio in the first set on court three, the Aztec rallied to a 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 win in the second and third sets to send her team to the championship match.
The Aztecs will return to action at 11 a.m. on Saturday against UNLV as they look to capture the program’s third ever Mountain West Tournament title and a bid to the NCAA Championships.
Doubles
1. Jo-Yee Chan/Vessa Turley (SDSU) def. Isabella Crossman/Dania Deaifi (GCU) 6-4
2. Gala Arangio/Karina Hofbauer (GCU) def. Jayna Clemens/Ninon Martinache (SDSU) 6-3
3. Hams Metwally/Amalia Suciu (GCU) def. Gloria Alogo/Liisa Varul (SDSU) 6-3
Singles
1. Jo-Yee Chan (SDSU) def. Isabella Crossman (GCU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Karina Hofbauer (GCU) vs. Gloria Alogo (SDSU) DNF 4-6, 6-4, 5-4
3. Jayna Clemens (SDSU) def. Gala Arangio (GCU) 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2
4. Hams Metwally (GCU) def. Vesa Gjinaj (SDSU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-2
5. Teja Tirunelveli (SDSU) def. Dania Deaifi (GCU) 6-2, 3-6, 7-5
6. Liisa Varul (SDSU) def. Amalia Suciu (GCU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,4,5,6,3)