SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With strong end to the 2015-16 regular season, Santa Clara (13-10, 5-4) women's tennis finished fourth in the West Coast Conference standings before reaching the semifinals of the league tournament, falling to eventual champion Pepperdine.
"Overall, I was really happy with our season, I was very proud of the team," said head coach Ben Cabell. "I thought we had a really good year. We accomplished a lot and we fought through some challenges and overcame them."
On March 1, Santa Clara debuted in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings at No. 61 after defeating the then-No. 39-ranked South Alabama 4-2 on Feb. 28 at the Degheri Tennis Center.
After the Broncos snagged the doubles point, which came down to the last match, the team snapped the Jaguars' nine-match winning streak coming into the bout. Nabila Farah clinched the win with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over Michelle Meszarosova to send South Alabama home with a loss.
Not only was this one of the team's best wins of the season, but it was also the highest ranked program that women's tennis had ever beaten.
After winning three of its last four regular season conference matches, the Broncos secured a spot among the six teams advancing to the WCC Championships. In opening-round action, No. 4 seed Santa Clara defeated fifth-seeded Brigham Young, 4-3, in a furious comeback. Rallying from an early 2-0 deficit, the team roared back with four wins in the last five singles matches.
In a big turning point for the match, senior Chelby Cooke saved four match points to keep the squad alive, winning in a tough three sets over Savannah Ware, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5).
From there, it was in the hands of Daniella Silva, who clinched the match against Mayci Jones with a 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory.
After the heroics of the first round, however, the spring campaign ended in the semifinal match as the Broncos fell to No. 1 seed and then eighth-ranked Pepperdine.
"We had a lot of success and we're really proud of what the team as a whole was able to do," Cabell said.
Cooke won 10 singles matches and was a part of a team-high 17 doubles victories this season. The only other senior on the team, Delphine Rouvillois, returned from a knee injury part way through the spring and recorded four singles wins and was on the court for six doubles victories. Unfortunately, she injured her knee again against Pepperdine on April 22.
Farah earned a spot on the WCC All-Tournament team as the No. 4 singles player and the doubles duo of Cooke and freshman Madison Clarke recorded a 14-7 overall record as partners.
Cooke, Farah and Silva were all also recognized for academic achievement by the WCC, with Farah and Silva being named to the All-Academic team and Cooke receiving honorable mention.
"Our goal for next year is to try and build on (this season's success), try to take what we were able to do this year and move it forward," Cabell said. "Obviously, it's going to be hard to replace people the quality and caliber of (Rouvillois) and (Cooke), but that's our goal: to try and do that and continue to get better next year."
