April 19, 2006
Berkeley, Calif. - Kim Daniel and Casey Knutson only formed a partnership a few weeks ago, but the pairing has apparently paid off. In Santa Clara's 7-0 loss to No. 6 California this afternoon, the duo provided the lone victory of the dual match, as they defeated Claire Ilcinkas and Marion Ravelojaona 8-6 at the No. 3 spot in doubles play.
Santa Clara drops its overall record to 6-11 on the year and will return to action this Friday at the West Coast Conference Championships, held at the Degheri Tennis Center. As the sixth seed, Santa Clara will face No. 3 Loyola Marymount at 3 p.m.
"Playing against California, and one other Top-25 team recently, we adopted an attitude of fighting. It is something has made us come together and the team has set some goals on how we want to finish out the year," said head coach Damon Coupe. "Outside of the wins and losses, the team has established some goals and they are definitely living up to them. We are excited about the WCC's coming up this weekend and the team is ready to pull off an upset or two."
In doubles, California took control after getting two victories at the top two spots to secure an early 1-0 lead. However, Daniel and Knutson prevented the sweep with their victory, providing an inspirational win for their teammates.
In singles, California proved that it had too much depth after taking all six contests in straight sets. Santa Clara did as well as it could against a team that boasts five players ranked within the Top 125 in the country. Kelly Leathers played Suzi Babos, ranked No. 27 in the country, tough in both sets, falling 6-4, 6-3, while Stephanie Galainena pushed No. 118 in the first set before losing 7-5. She later dropped the second set by a score of 6-1.
No. 6 California 7, Santa Clara 0
Doubles (California wins the doubles point)
1. Suzi Babos/Zsuzsanna Fodor (CAL) def. Erika Barnes/Stephanie Galainena (SCU), 8-1
2. Bojana Bobusic/Stephanie Kusano (CAL) def. Myra Davoudi/Kelly Leathers (SCU), 8-3
3. Kim Daniel/Casey Knutson (SCU) def. Claire Ilcinkas/Marion Ravelojoana (CAL)
Singles
1. Suzi Babos (CAL) def. Kelly Leathers (SCU) 6-4, 6-3
2. Stephanie Kusano (CAL) def. Casey Knutson (SCU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Marion Ravelojoana (CAL) def. Stephanie Galainena (SCU), 7-5, 6-1
4. Bojana Bobusic (CAL) def. Kim Daniel (SCU), 6-2, 6-1
5. Claire Ilcinkas (CAL) def. Erika Barnes (SCU), 6-1, 6-0
6. Jessica Shu (CAL) def. Myra Davoudi (SCU), 6-3, 6-0
