SAN FRANCISCO –– Playing against one of its Bay Area rivals at the Olympic Club on Friday afternoon, the USF women's tennis team struggled against San Jose State, falling 5-2 to the Spartans.
 
The Dons started off very strong in doubles, winning the doubles point with victories in the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. The day began with Genevieve McCloskey and Hannah Börjeson squaring off against Marine Dans and Sybille Gauvain. The Spartans picked up the 6-2 win, but the Dons showed major grit by winning the remaining doubles matches.
 Andrea Ka and Thyra Taune earned a very solid win over Marie Klocker and Gaelle Rey at No. 1 and Shanna Dos Santos and Sofia Holmberg clinched the point with a 6-3 win over Miyo Kobayashi and Justine Deleval.
 
In the singles matches, five of the matchups went to three sets, but the Spartans took four of them to earn the overall win.
 
During the first singles match, Kobayashi defeated Dos Santos 6-2, 6-4 to earn a point for San Jose State. Ka continued to stay undefeated in singles play, taking down Gauvain 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to push USF ahead 2-1. However, that would be the last win of the day for the Green and Gold.
 
At No. 3 singles, Borjeson took the first set against Dans 7-5, but Rey came back to win 6-1, 6-2. In the No. 3 match, Taune pulled ahead against Klocker 6-2, but the Spartan took the second set 6-0 and the third set 7-6(6). Facing Dans, McCloskey won the first set 7-6(4), but lost 3-6, 1-6. The win clinched the overall match for the Spartans. In the final match of the afternoon, Jiayu Mu started off strong against Andrea Vasiljevic with a 6-2 win in the first set. The two went on to play two tie-breaking sets and Vasiljevic won 7-5, 7-6(7) for the victory.
 
"We will work on continuing to get better under pressure points and keep plugging away," said head women's tennis coach Hilary Somers.
 
The Dons will open up WCC play on Feb. 13 at Pacific at 12 p.m. 
 
 
Doubles
No. 1 Ka/Taune (USF) def. Klocker/Rey (SJSU) 6-2
No. 2 Gauvain/Dans (SJSU) def. McCloskey/Borjeson (USF) 6-2
No. 3 Dos Santos/Holmberg (USF) def. Kobayashi/Deleval (SJSU) 6-3
Order of Finish: (2,1,3)
 
Singles
No. 1 Ka (USF) def. Gauvain (SJSU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Klocker (SJSU) def. Taune (USF) 2-6, 6-0, 7-6(6)
No. 3 Rey (SJSU) def. Borjeson (USF) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Dans (SJSU) def. McCloskey (USF) 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-1
No. 5 Kobayashi (SJSU) def. Dos Santos (USF) 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Vaseljevic (SJSU) def. Mu (USF) 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(7)
Order of Finish: (5,1,3,2,4,6)