Jan. 13, 2008

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Santa Clara women's tennis team opened the season with a 7-0 defeat on the road against No. 64 Cal Poly Sunday afternoon. Three Broncos pushed their singles matches to three sets, but they could not pull out a victory against a team that features four players that were in the fall FILA rankings.

At the top of the lineup, junior Stephanie Galainena fell 6-2, 6-3 to Brittany Blalock. It was Galainena's first match at the No. 1 position since 2006 when she played four matches in the top spot. Last season, she played as high as No. 2.

At No. 2 singles, senior Lindsay McBride dropped a hard-fought match to Steffi Wong, 6-2, 7-6 (9-7), nearly pulling out the second set tiebreaker. It was McBride's first match at the No. 2 spot in her Bronco career. The Broncos other senior, Myra Davoudi fell 6-2, 6-4 at No. 3 to Shannon Brady.

Freshmen played the final three spots for the Broncos with Ashley Pane, Carmen Pham and Courtney Hull playing Nos. 4, 5, 6 respectively. All three freshmen were playing their first collegiate matches and all three won the first set, before falling in three sets.

Pane captured the first set 7-5, but lost the next two 6-3, 6-0 to Maria Malec, while Pham also won her first set 7-5 against Whitney Peterson. Peterson captured the next two 6-4, 1-0 (10-2). At No. 6, Hull lost to Diane Phillip 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Quotes
Head coach Ben Cabell, on match: "We knew that the early portion of our schedule was going to be tough starting with today's match. Everyone went out and played hard and proved that we can compete with a ranked team. Every match was tight and we learned a lot that we can use going into the upcoming matches."

Cabell, on play of three freshmen: "The freshmen all had good days. They learned that players are not going to give up at this level. All three had good starts, but they needed to do a better job of finishing. They will learn to close out matches as they get more experience under their belts."

No. 64 Cal Poly 7, Santa Clara 0

Singles
1. CP Brittany Blalock def. SCU Stephanie Galainena 6-2, 6-3
2. CP Steffi Wong def. SCU Lindsay McBride 6-2, 7-6 (9-7)
3. CP Shannon Brady def. SCU Myra Davoudi 6-2, 6-4
4. CP Maria Malec def. SCU Ashley Pane 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
5. CP Whitney Peterson def. SCU Carmen Pham 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-2)
6. CP Diane Filip def. SCU Courtney Hull 3-6, 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
1. CP Blalock/Wong def. SCU Pane/Galainena 8-3
2. CP Brady/Amy Markoff def. SCU McBride/Pham 8-5
3. CP Malec/Filip def. SCU Davoudi/Meghan Madden 8-5