SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's tennis will host BYU and San Diego this weekend in its final two home matches of the season at Degheri Tennis Center. The Broncos and Cougars will play on Friday at 11 a.m. PT. SCU and USD square off on Saturday at noon.
"We think we need two wins to get into the West Coast Conference Tournament," head coach Ben Cabell said. "The top six teams get into the tournament so it's going to be close but we think both matches are winnable. We've beaten teams that have beaten these teams. I'm sure they are going to be close like the matches have been all year."
The Broncos enter the weekend with a 7-11 (2-5 WCC) record after losing to Washington State by a score of 4-0 on Friday and San Francisco 4-3 on Saturday. The Broncos lost the doubles point to the Dons and rallied to win three singles matches but it wasn't enough to earn the comeback victory.
"We're looking forward to playing at home and we feel good about it," Cabell said. "But we know it'll be two tough matches. Over the last few years, we have performed well in our final home matches of the season and had a lot of success so I'm looking forward to that."
Seniors Daniella Silva and Nabila Farah will be honored prior to the match beginning on Saturday. Farah was named to the 2016 All-WCC Second Team in doubles with her partner, Silva, and she was appointed to the WCC All-Tournament team. Farah and Silva both traveled to the 2015 ITA All-American Championships in Malibu, California, and played in the doubles competition. She has played on court three for the Broncos this season and earned six wins in dual match play.
Silva was named to the 2016 All-WCC Second Team in singles and also earned All-WCC Second Team honors in doubles. In the fall of 2015, Silva played with Farah in the ITA All-American Championships. She has played on courts one and two for SCU on the year and was won four singles matches.
Sophomore Madison Clarke is 12-1 in dual match play this year, going 6-0 on court two and then moved up to court one and has gone 6-1. She has won six straight matches and six of her last ten. Junior Zeina El Tawil (8-6) has won four consecutive singles matches on court four for the Broncos.
Silva and Clarke are 10-5 on court one in doubles action this season and have won seven of their last 10 matches. Dating back to the fall, the duo has gone 13-7 overall in doubles matches.
BYU is 7-11 overall on the year and 2-4 in WCC action. They lost their last two matches at home against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount but did win at Pacific prior to those two matches.
San Diego owns an overall record of 8-12 and is 4-3 in league play. The Toreros were 4-0 in WCC matches but have lost their last three to St. Mary's, LMU and Pepperdine. Colomba DFilippo is 13-3 on the year in dual match play, primarily playing on court four with a 9-3 record. Daniela Morales is 12-5 on the year and has played the majority of her matches on court two with an 8-4 record.
PARKING: On Friday, parking on campus will be subject to normal daily rates or restrictions, including the main structure, located on Palm Drive. During the weekend, campus parking facilities are free (except for permit required locations). Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.
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