April 19, 2008
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Freshman Courtney Hull's victory at sixth singles gave the Santa Clara women's tennis team a 4-3 victory over Portland at the 2008 West Coast Conference Tennis Championships Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Broncos move on to battle for fifth place against the Lions of Loyola Marymount.
"It was an incredible match," said head coach Ben Cabell. "It was a total team performance. Everyone played a crucial role. We were playing the fifth-seeded team, who we lost to during the regular season, so it was a huge upset for us."
The Broncos earned the doubles point with 8-4 victories at both No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Stephanie Galainena and Ashley Pane defeated Megan Sporndli and Lindsey Griffin, while Myra Davoudi and Lindsey McBride stormed past Christie Feyen and Stefanie Doolittle. Earlier this season, when the two teams met in Portland, Santa Clara earned the doubles point with wins at the same two positions.
The two teams traded points in singles play, with the match score tied three times.
The Pilots quickly tied the match, 1-1, with a singles victory at the No. 1 spot. Sporndli topped Galainena (6-1, 6-1). Yet, the Broncos responded with a straight set victory at the No. 5 spot. Pane registered the (6-4, 6-3) win over Anna Gullickson.
The score was tied once again, 2-2, as Lindsey Griffin defeated Davoudi (7-5, 6-3). The final three singles matches all came down to three set contests. Portland then took the lead with a victory at No. 3 singles. After losing the first set to McBride, 6-2, Feyen rallied to victory with a 6-3 second set and a 7-5 third set. The Pilots led 3-2.
Carmen Pham then tied the score for SCU with a (7-6, 3-6, 6-3) win over Jenna Tanzer at the fourth spot. With the score tied, 3-3, it came down to the No. 6 singles match where Hull and Doolittle were battling through three sets.
"It feels good to win," said Hull after clinching the match victory for Santa Clara. "I lost the last time I played her, so going into today's match I knew what I needed to do to win."
Hull rallied to a 7-5 first set win but fell 6-4 in the second set to Doolittle.
"I really got down on myself after the second set," said Hull. "But I realized that my teammates needed me to win and that I had their complete support. After that I told myself, I'm not going to lose."
And, that's exactly what she did. Hull rallied from a 3-0 deficit for the 7-5 third set victory. The Broncos took the match, 4-3.
