SAN FRANCISCO – The No. 67 San Francisco women's tennis team (11-8, 2-4 WCC) took No. 53 San Diego down to the wire Friday afternoon before falling, 4-3, in a heartbreaker at Golden Gate Park that lasted nearly six hours.
The Dons jumped out to an early 3-1 lead by taking the first two doubles matches followed by victories from freshman
Sofia Holmberg and
Brooke Irish at No. 2 and No. 5 singles, respectively.
San Diego (9-8, 4-1 WCC) refused to go away, however, as the Toreros rallied to take the final three points to earn the 4-3 win. USD's Anna Depenau pulled out a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 thriller over sophomore
Marina Nikolic to spoil the Dons' hopes of evening its WCC record and winning its final home match of the season.
“This was one of my toughest losses as a coach,” said USF coach
Hilary Somers. “We let them off the hook and we didn't rise up and put the match away when we needed to. Now we have a week and a half to get ready for a tough road trip to the Pacific Northwest.”
Three USF seniors –
Melinda Akerbrant,
Yurie Hashiguchi and
Blair Reed – took to the Golden Gate Park courts for the final time as Dons on Senior Day.
The fifth-place Dons close out the season with two road contests, eyeing a potential 4-4 finish in West Coast Conference action. USF will visit Portland on Friday, April 19 at 11 a.m. and will take on Gonzaga on Saturday, April 20 at 11 a.m.
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DOUBLES:
1. Andrea Ka /
Sofia Holmberg (USF) def. Laura Claus / Anna Depenau (USD) 9-7
2. Yurie Hashiguchi /
Milica Hadzi-Tanovic (USF) def. Stephanie Hoffpauir / Mikayla Morkel-Brink (USD) 8-2
3. Brooke Irish /
Marina Nikolic (USF) vs. Cara Brown / Marta Stojanovic unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2
SINGLES:
1. No. 108 Laura Claus (USD) def. No. 78
Andrea Ka (USF) 6-4, 6-3
2. Sofia Holmberg (USF) def. Stephanie Hoffpauir (USD) 6-2, 6-0
3. Marta Stojanovic (USD) def.
Milica Hadzi-Tanovic (USF) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2)
4. Anna Depenau (USD) def.
Marina Nikolic (USF) 1-6, 7-5, 7-5
5. Brooke Irish (USF) def. Mikayla Morkel-Brink (USD) 6-2, 0-6, 6-2
6. Cara Brown (USD) def.
Melinda Akerbrant (USF) 6-4, 7-5
Order of finish: 1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4
FINAL SCORE: No. 53 USD 4, No.67 USF 3
