Feb. 18, 2008

Stockton, Calif. - At home against UC Davis, the Pacific women's tennis team could not hold on to an early lead over the Aggies as the Tigers fell, 4-3, on Monday, February 18, in their Big West Conference opener. The loss dropped the Tigers to 2-5 on the year and 0-1 in Big West play while the Aggies improved to 4-4 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

The day started well for the Tigers as they captured the doubles point against the Aggies, taking both the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles spots for the 1-0 lead. Sophomores Sasha Fisher (Southampton, Bermuda) and Svenja Arens (Bensberg, Germany) teamed up at the No. 2 spot to get the Tigers their first win of the day, 8-4, over Jenna Kappel and Herzyl Legaspi. The win knotted the doubles play at one match a piece.

With the first point hanging in the balance, junior Jolanta Twarowska (Hamburg, Germany) and freshman Olga Gumenyuk (Kiev, Ukraine) ran away with the No. 1 doubles spot with a convincing 8-3 win over Robin Guier and Randi Schuler.

Down one point, the Aggies were able to rally for the match with four straight singles wins, taking the top four singles spots in straight sets to capture the match win. Junior Clara Schuhmacher (Zaragoza, Spain ) and Fisher continued to fight in their matches, taking the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots in straight set victories. However, their finishes came just after the Aggies were able to take home the fourth and final point they would need to capture that match.

Pacific will be back in action on Saturday, February 23, at home against Big West foe Cal State Northridge. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm.

UC Davis 4, Pacific 3
Stockton, Calif. - Hal Nelson Tennis Courts
Doubles
1. Twarowska/Gumenyuk (PAC) def. Guier/Schuler (UCD) - 8-3
2. Fisher/Arens (PAC) def. Kappel/Legaspi (UCD) - 8-4
3. Athavale/Stone (UCD) def. Nezhura/Schuhmacher (PAC) - 8-1

Singles
1. Randi Schuler (UCD) def. Jolanta Twarowska (PAC) - 6-2, 6-2
2. Robin Guier (UCD) def. Svenja Arens (PAC) - 6-2, 7-6(0)
3. Desiree Stone (UCD) def. Olga Gumenyuk (PAC) - 6-3, 6-1
4. Herzyl Legaspi (UCD) def. Kateryna Nezhura (PAC) - 6-3, 6-3
5. Clara Schuhmacher (PAC) def. Kaitlin Callan (UCD) - 6-3, 6-1
6. Sasha Fisher (PAC) def. Anita Athavale (UCD) - 7-6(4), 6-4