SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara women's tennis team improved to 5-7 with a 6-1 win over the Montana Grizzlies on Fri., March 27.
"Montana is a tough team, but we played well today," said Bronco head coach Ben Cabell.
Playing well is starting to become more of a trend for the streaking Broncos, who have conquered three of their last four opponents, with wins over UC Davis, San Diego and now Montana.
Santa Clara's doubles teams came through to gain the primary point for the Broncos against the Grizzlies. Chelby Cooke and Delphine Rouvillois added to their own impressive record, defeating Sasha Carter and Catherine Orfanos 6-2 for to move to 6-1 on the season as a doubles pairing. Zeina El Tawil and Riley Morgan teamed up to take down Cam Kincaid and Hannah Sulz 6-3 to reign in the doubles point for the Broncos.
"Zeina and Riley had a great win at 3 doubles that gave us momentum," Cabell said.
The Broncos kept this momentum going in singles. Cooke proved too much for Sulz on Court 4, running away with the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win. El Tawil was the next to finish and beat Kincaid 6-4, 6-2. Daniella Silva at No. 3 punched the ticket for the Broncos as she pushed past Pelchat 7-6, 6-2, clinching the match for the Broncos.
Rouvillois showed her strength in beating Precious Gbadamosi at No. 1 singles 6-4, 7-5. Nabila Farah gave a demonstration of fortitude at No. 2, ripping off her first set 6-3 before getting shut out 6-0 in the second, then coming back to take the third set 6-2 and taking the sixth point of the day for the Broncos. Danielle Zinn pushed Catherine Orfanos to the brink but the Grizzly eventually pulled away for the win 6-3, 7-5(6).
"Chelby Cooke had another decisive win and played a great match. It was a total team effort," added Cabell.
It will be seen if the Broncos can keep it up as they head into a stretch of six conference matches in 18 days. Santa Clara travels to Southern California to play Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine on Apr. 2 and 4 before returning home to host Saint Mary's and Pacific on Apr. 10 and 11, respectively. The Broncos close out their regular season schedule in the Northwest, playing at Gonzaga on Apr. 18 and at Portland on Apr. 19.
Check back to SantaClaraBroncos.com for more news and updates.
Go Broncos!
Santa Clara 6, Montana 1
Doubles | Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
1) Pelchat/Gbadamosi (MON) def. Farah/Silva (SCU) 6-4
2) Cooke/Rouvillois (SCU) def. Carter/Orfanos (MON) 6-2
3) El Tawil/Morgan (SCU) def. Kincaid/Sulz (MON) 6-3
Singles | Order of Finish: 4, 5, 3*, 1, 2, 6
1) Delphine Rouvillois (SCU) def. Precious Gbadamosi (MON) 6-4, 7-5
2) Nabila Farah (SCU) def. Sasha Carter (MON) 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
3) Daniella Silva (SCU) def. Laurence Pelchat (MON) 7-6, 6-2
4) Chelby Cooke (SCU) def. Hannah Sulz (MON) 6-0, 6-0
5) Zeina El Tawil (SCU) def. Cam Kincaid (MON) 6-4, 6-2
6) Catherine Orfanos (MON) def. Danielle Zinn (SCU) 6-3, 7-5(6)
