SANTA CLARA, Calif. –Santa Clara women's tennis was unable to complete a weekend home sweep of the West Coast Conference Northwest schools as the Broncos fell Sunday 4-0 to Gonzaga, the hottest team in the league.
After dropping the doubles point, the Broncos (8-7, 2-3) could not get enough momentum going in singles to extend the match.
Nevada Apollo of Gonzaga downed Chelby Cooke 6-1, 6-3 on the No. 3 court and Samantha Polayes defeated Delphine Rouvillois 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles to build a 3-0 lead for the Bulldogs (13-2, 3-1), who won for the 12th time in their last 13 matches.
Domonique Garley then closed out Santa Clara's Zeina El Tawil 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 to claim the victory before Madison Clarke could finish off Alex Bourguignon of Gonzaga to get the Broncos on the scoreboard.
Playing on the No. 4 court, Clarke was leading Bourguignon 7-6 (5), 5-3 when Garley downed El Tawil.
The Broncos were also in the mix for points at Nos. 1 and 5 singles. Daniella Silva lost the first set 6-4 to Sophie Whittle, but was leading 5-4 in the second, while Nabila Farah was leading Graciela Rosas 6-1, 4-6, 1-0 when play was halted.
"It was a tough conference match," Santa Clara head coach Ben Cabell said. "They're good. They just won 11 matches in a row. We have to credit to Gonzaga. They played really well."
Gonzaga had its 11-match winning streak snapped Saturday at San Francisco, but the Bulldogs got off to a good start against the Broncos in doubles.
After splitting at Nos. 2 and 3, Whittle and Polayes were able to hold off Silva and Farah 7-5 at No. 1 to claim the point.
"I think that the doubles point was huge," Cabell said. "It was really close."
Santa Clara still comes away with a split during the weekend, having edged Portland, 4-3, Saturday in Degheri Tennis Center.
"We're going to take a couple things away, work on a couple little things, but the conference is super even this year," Cabell said. "It's just the way it's playing out so far."
Santa Clara will play in and out of conference this week. The Broncos play at Weber State Thursday before traveling to meet WCC foe BYU Friday.
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