Women's Tennis | 4/24/2015 3:50:00 PM

San Diego, Calif.- USF women's tennis closed its solid 2015 campaign in the West Coast Conference Championship Semifinals at Barnes Tennis Center. After a dominating 4-0 quarterfinal win against Gonzaga, the Dons succumbed to No. 2 seed Portland, ranked No. 53 by ITA Tennis, by a final score of 4-0.

USF closes the season with a 13-11 mark in dual match action, with an undefeated 8-0 record at home, while the Pilots advance to the finals to take on No. 1 seed Pepperdine after knocking off the No. 3 seed Dons.

"The doubles carried so much momentum after we had match points in the tiebreaker and didn't close it out," said head coach Hilary Somers. "Portland was confident and dug very deep across all their courts for the win." 

The Dons battled it out in doubles play, with two of their three matches ending in a tiebreaker. Although Portland took the first two matches to gain the first team point, USF made them work for their matches.
 
Andrea Ka and Marina Nikolic fought hard to just miss the mark against Lucia Butkovska and Jelena Lazarevic 8-7 (7) in a long and competitive tiebreaker. At No. 2 doubles, Thyra Taune and Genevieve McCloskey's back-and-fourth play against Maja Mladenovic and Sophie van den Aarssen came short to fall 8-6 (7).
 
Sofia Holmberg and Milica Hadz-Tanovic made sure that the Pilots did not claim all three matches as they dominated against Amanda Zuidema and Tori Troesch 8-2.
 
As singles play commenced, Portland played to straight-set wins in the Nos. 1, 4 and 6 positions to close the match with a 4-0 final tally.
 
Four of USF's first sets in singles play all finished with Portland ahead by only two games when the Pilots took their first sets. In her unfinished match against Mladenovic at No. 2 singles, Taune claimed the first set 7-8 (6).
 
Nikolic and McCloskey both picked up first set wins for USF, and if the match had not finished early, they could've provided the Dons with an advantage to have possibly downed the Pilots.
 
Nikolic had taken her first set against van den Aaressen 7(4)-6. McCloskey also picked up a 6-3 win in her first set against Saroop Dhatt. For her efforts during the tournament, McCloskey was named to the WCC's All-Tournament Team, in the No. 5 position. 
 
"It was a disappointing day for us but a very successful season," noted Somers. "This year has set a higher bar for our program moving forward."

The Dons complete the 2015 slate with three straight winning seasons on the Hilltop. With only two seniors on the team, the youthful squad will return with All-WCC First Team selection Ka and All- WCC Second-Team Thyra Taune leading USF next season.
 

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No. 3 San Francisco 0, No. 2 Portland 4 
 
Singles | Order of Finish:  1,4,6
 
No. 1 #101 Lucia Butkovska (POR) def. Andrea Ka (USF); 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 Maja Mladenovic (POR) vs. Thyra Taune (USF); 7(8)-6, 2-3 DNF
No. 3 Marina Nikolic (USF) vs. Sophie van den Aarssen (POR); 7(4),4-6,0-1 DNF
No. 4 Jelena Lazarevic (PORT) def. Milica Hadzi-Tanovic (USF); 7-5, 6-0
No. 5 Genevieve McCloskey (USF) vs. Saroop Dhatt (POR); 6-3, 4-6 DNF
No. 6 Tori Troesch (POR) def. Sofia Holmberg (USF); 7-5, 6-2
 
Doubles | Order of Finish: 3,2,1
 
No. 1 Butkovska/Lazarevic (POR) def. Ka/Nikolic (USF); 8(7)-7
No. 2 Mladenovic/van den Aarssen (POR) def. Taune/McCloksey (USF); 8(6)-7
No. 3 Holmberg/Hadzi-Tanovic (USF) def. Zuidema/Troesch (POR); 8-2
 

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2015 WCC All-Tournament Doubles Team
1. Matea Cutura and Christine Maddox, Pepperdine
2. Maja Mladenovic and Sophie van den Aarssen, Portland
3. Michaela Capannolo and Danielle Feneridis, Pepperdine

WCC All-Tournament Singles Team
1. Lucia Butkovska, Portland
2. Laura Gulbe, Pepperdine
3. Jamie Pawid, Saint Mary's
4. Jean Runglerdkriangkrai, Pepperdine
5. Genevieve McCloskey, San Francisco
6. Christine Maddox, Pepperdine