Posted: Feb 11, 2018
FRESNO, Calif. – Santa Clara women's tennis came back twice to tie the match up but eventually fell to Fresno State, 4-3, on Sunday at Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center.
"It was really close all day going back and forth. The team played really hard and well as they gave us a great chance to win but Fresno State is a good team," said Broncos head coach Ben Cabell.
With the match all tied up at 3-3, it came down to a battle on court one between Santa Clara's Madison Clarke and Fresno State's Emma Wilson, the 125th-ranked player in the country. Clarke went up 3-0 in the third set but Wilson stormed back to take the match, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5, to clinch the win for the Bulldogs (2-4).
Down 2-0, the Broncos (1-3) made their first comeback when Katya Tabachnik earned her first Bronco win in the dual match season, beating Georgia Lawson 6-3, 6-2 on court four.
Senior Zeina El Tawil tied the match up 2-2 when she won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 against Alessia Dario on court three.
The Broncos fell behind 3-2 when Elvena Gevargiz lost, 7-5, 2-6, 1-6 to Ndindi Ndunda before Maddie Pothoff tied the match up 3-3. Pothoff's three set win over Juliane Triebe 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on court two setup the showdown between Clarke and Wilson.
"Madison had a great chance against a nationally ranked player but fell just short," said Cabell.
The Broncos next play on the road against a pair of Arizona schools in Arizona Christian on Friday, Feb. 16 at Noon and Arizona State on Saturday, Feb. 17, also at Noon PT.
