Feb. 10, 2008

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After weeks of being defeated in matches against difficult teams, the Santa Clara women's tennis team picked up their first win of the season. In their second home match, the Broncos defeated UC Santa Cruz 6-1.

In singles, Senior Myra Davoudi came out victorious against Jessica Ruth of UCSC at the No. 1 position. Davoudi dropped the first set 1-6 before coming back in the second set 6-3 and winning the third set tiebreaker 10-7. At No. 2, Stephanie Galainena fell in the first set against Megan Sweeney, but got back into the match winning the second set 6-2. She finally lost in the third set. Lindsay McBride defeated Taylor Mannix 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3.

The freshmen earned their first collegiate wins against the Banana Slugs. Carmen Pham won her match 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4, followed by straight wins by Ashley Pane and Courtney Hull at No. 5 and 6 (6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0 respectively).

In doubles, Galainena and Hull won their match at No. 1 against Sweeney and Ruth 8-1. Following in step at No. 2, McBride and Davoudi earned the win 8-7 with a 11-9 tiebreaker against Furlong and Mannix of UCSC. Rounding up doubles were Hull and Pham with a 8-3 win against Long and Rowe.

Quotes
Head Coach Ben Cabell, on first win: "It was great to be out on a nice day. It was nice to get our first win after those tough matches in the first part of the season."

Cabell, on three set matches: "Santa Cruz's top two players are very good. Mrya had a great finish after coming back from the first set. Stephanie did really well too, coming back after the first set but she wasn't able to get the win. They both did a great job getting back in to the match after dropping the first set."

Cabell, on team's play: "The rest of the team did really well. Santa Cruz plays a little differently than we're used to. They hit the ball a lot softer, so they did a great job making adjustments."


Santa Clara 6, UC Santa Cruz 1

Singles
1. SCU Myra Davoudi vs. UCSC Jessica Ruth 1-6, 6-3, 10-4
2. UCSC Megan Sweeney vs. SCU Stephanie Galainena 7-5, 2-6, 10-7
3. SCU Lindsay McBride vs. UCSC Taylor Mannix 6-0, 6-1
4. SCU Carmen Pham vs. UCSC Chayla Furlong 6-1, 6-3
5. SCU Ashley Pane vs. UCSC Kyla Kessler Rowe 6-1, 6-1
6. SCU Courtney Hull vs. UCSC Chrissy Nichol 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. SCU Galainena/Pane vs. UCSC Sweeney/Ruth 8-1
2. SCU McBride/Davoudi vs. UCSC Furlong/Mannix 8-7 (11-9)
3. SCU Hull/Pham vs. UCSC Long/Rowe 8-3