SAN FRANCISCO –– In USF's opening match of 2016, the Dons fell to Sacramento State 5-2 at the Olympic Club on Wednesday afternoon. Doubles play started off the afternoon where the Dons took two of three matches. Sofia Holmberg and Shanna Dos Santos paired in the No. 3 slot to blank Emily McColl and Andie Mouzes 6-0. Sacramento took the No. 2 doubles match, with Jennifer Ong and Ana Loaiza Esquivias taking down Genevieve McCloskey and Hanna Börjeson 6-2. The Dons swung the momentum back in their favor in No. 1 doubles with Andrea Ka and Thyra Taune taking the match 6-3 over Deimante Bulatovaite and Alina Soltanici.
In singles play, Jiayu Mu and Sofia Wicker were the first off the court, with the Hornet defeating the Don 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 6 spot. Dos Santos, coming off a win on the doubles court, was unable to make it two wins on the day and fell to Mouzes 3-6, 4-6 in the No. 5 match. After a pair of losses in singles, Ka got the Dons back on track with a dominating win against Soltanici. The senior, playing No. 1 singles, won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 and the match was back even at two wins apiece.
However, the Hornets rattled off three straight wins to take the match. In No. 4 singles, McCloskey battled tough against Loaiza Esquivias but lost 5-7. 2-6. Following that match, Börjeson had a very long match against Bulatovaite at No. 3 singles, with each set going to tiebreakers. After Bulatovaite won the first set 7-5, Börjeson won the second 7-5 but the Hornet eventually came away victorious with a 7-5 win in the third set. In the final match of the afternoon, Taune jumped out to an early lead against Ong in No. 2 singles with a 6-4 win. In the second set, Ong won in a tiebreaker, 7-6(3) to even the match. Ong then clinched the match with a 6-4 in the third set.
USF will hit the road on Saturday where they will take on Michigan in Ann Arbor at the ITA Kick-Off. The match is set for 7 a.m. PT.
Doubles
No. 1 Ka/Taune (USF) def. Bulatovaite/Soltanici (Sac St.) 6-3
No. 2 Ong/Loaiza Esquivias (Sac St.) def. McCloskey/Börjeson (USF) 6-2
No. 3 Holmberg/Dos Santos (USF) def. McColl/Mouzes (Sac St.) 6-0
Order of Finish (3,2,1)
Singles
No. 1 Ka (USF) def. Soltanici (Sac St.) 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 Ong (Sac St.) def. Taune (USF) 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4
No. 3 Bulatovaite (Sac St.) def. Börjeson (USF) 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
No. 4 Loaiza Esquivias (Sac St.) def. McCloskey (USF) 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 Mouzes (Sac St.) def. Dos Santos (USF) 3-6, 4-6
No. 6 Wicker (Sac St) def. Mu (USF) 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish (6,5,1,4,3,2)
