SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Santa Clara women's tennis team battled to the end against Loyola Marymount in the first round of the WCC Championships, but fell by a final score of 4-3. The team finishes the season with a 7-12 overall record and 3-6 record in the WCC.
The No. 7 seed Broncos went stroke for stroke with the No. 10 seed Lions until the end, trading points with the opponent for the majority of the match, but were unable to close the deal
"It was a really tough match," said Bronco head coach Ben Cabell. "We did a lot of really good things and had a great shot, but came up a little short."
LMU kicked off the match by scoring the doubles point. At position 2, Chelby Cooke teamed up with Nikki Wolny – a recent addition to this season's roster – but fell to Jessica Perez and Anna Romeka 8-2. The confident duo of Nabila Farah and Daniella Silva beat Lisa Piller and Elanor Grossman 8-3 on court 1, but freshmen Zeina El Tawil and Riley Morgan were just barely edged by Julia Norlin and Andrea Crespo, falling 8-7(4).
The Lions went up 2-0 as Grossman took down Danielle Zinn 6-3, 6-2. But Morgan was quick to battle back for the Broncos, putting them on the board with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Norlin.
El Tawil tied the match at two apiece with a strong win of her own, defeating Kristine Kouyoumjian 6-2, 6-4.
At No. 1, Farah was unable to bounce back against the prominent play of Perez as the Lion took the match 6-3, 6-2 and put LMU up 3-2. Facing Crespo on court 2, Cooke dropped the first set 3-6, but the resilient junior pushed back to win the next two 6-2, 6-2 and tie the match 3-3.
After Silva won her first set 6-2, her opponent Romeka took the momentum, upending Silva and the Broncos with 6-3 wins in the second and third set.
"I'm very proud of how the team fought and competed today," Cabell said. "We've shown good improvements and are setting ourselves up well going into next year."
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Go Broncos!
Loyola Marymount 4, Santa Clara 3
Doubles | Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
1) Farah/Silva (SCU) def. Piller/Grossman (LMU) 8-3
2) Perez/Romeka (LMU) def. Cooke/Wolny (SCU) 8-2
3) Crespo/Norlin (LMU) def. El Tawil/Morgan (SCU) 8-7(4)
Singles | Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 1, 2, 3
1) Jessica Perez (LMU) def. Nabila Farah (SCU) 6-3, 6-2
2) Chelby Cooke (SCU) def. Andrea Crespo (LMU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
3) Anna Romeka (LMU) def. Daniella Silva (SCU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
4) Zeina El Tawil (SCU) def. Kristine Kouyoumjian (LMU) 6-2, 6-4
5) Elanor Grossman (LMU) def. Danielle Zinn (SCU) 6-3, 6-2
6) Riley Morgan (SCU) def. Julia Norlin (LMU) 6-3, 6-3
