March 29, 2009

Irvine, Calif. - Despite singles victories by senior Jolanta Twarowska (Hamburg, Germany) and sophomore Jenifer Widjaja (Sao Roque, Sao Paulo, Brazil), the Pacific women's tennis team could not defeat No. 49 UC Irvine, 5-2, on Sunday, Mar. 29.

The Tigers' record fell to 8-10 and 4-2 in the Big West Conference and the Anteaters moved to 12-6 overall with a 6-1 in conference play.

UC Irvine started out strong, claiming the doubles point with 8-5 wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. At the beginning of the match, Tiger sophomore Kateryna Nezhura (Kiev, Ukraine) and junior Svenja Arens (Bensburg, Germany) had the only doubles victory for Pacific defeating UC Irvine's Clare Fermin and Rebecca Kwan, 8-5.

In singles action UC Irvine had a quick victory over the Tigers. The Anteaters grabbed a win in the No. 5 position followed by a battle between Arens and UC Irvine's Brooke Bartlett from the No. 3 position that ended with Anteaters' match point, 6-3, 6-0.

With the match at 3-0 overall, Pacific sophomore Jenifer Widjaja (Sao Roque, Sao Paulo, Brazil) came through once again for the Tigers with a win from the No. 1 position. Widjaja easily defeated the Anteaters' Stephanie Hammel, 6-2, 6-1.

The Tigers' last victory of the day came from the No. 2 position where Pacific senior Jolanta Twarowska (Hamburg, Germany) earned a hard fought win against UC Irvine's Courtney Byron, 6-3, 3-6, with a 1-0 (8) tie breaker.

Pacific is back in action on Friday, April 3 as they host Long Beach State at the Hal Nelson Tennis Courts. The match is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.

Women's Tennis Results
No. 49 UC Irvine 5, Pacific 2
Irvine, Calif.

Doubles (UC Irvine wins point, 2-1)
1. Stephanie Hammel / Heidi Kaloi (UCI) def. Jenifer Widjaja / Olga Gumenyuk (PAC) : 8-5
2. Courtney Byron / Miranda Young (UCI) def. Jolanta Twarowska / Sasha Fisher (PAC): 8-5
3. Kateryna Nezhura / Svenja Arens (PAC) def. Clare Fermin / Rebecca Kwan (UCI): 8-5

Order of Finish:
3, 2, 1

Singles
1. Jenifer Widjaja (PAC) def. Stephanie Hammel (UCI): 6-2, 6-1
2. Jolanta Twarowska (PAC) def. Courtney Byron (UCI): 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (8)
3. Brooke Bartlett (UCI) def. Svenja Arens (PAC): 6-3, 6-0
4. Clare Fermin (UCI) def. Kateryna Nezhura (PAC): 6-2, 6-3
5. Rebecca Kwan (UCI) def. Clara Schumacher (PAC): 6-1, 6-1
6. Heidi Kaloi (UCI) def. Sasha Fisher (PAC): 6-4, 6-2

Order of Finish:
5, 3, 1, 6, 4, 2