Southern Utah, Weber State Collect #BigSkyTennis Quarterfinal Wins Thursday in Phoenix
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PHOENIX (April 25, 2019) – Weber State and Southern Utah collected the first wins in the 2019 Big Sky Women’s Tennis Championship on Thursday with the two teams advancing to Friday's semifinal round at the Phoenix Tennis Center.
No. 3 seed Weber State rolled to a 4-0 shutout over No. 6 Sacramento State while No. 5 Southern Utah rallied for a 4-3 victory over the fourth seed Eastern Washington.
Weber State (16-7) quickly claimed the doubles point with Sara Parker and Pei-Hsuan Kuo earning a 6-1 win on court one over Jayden Nielsen and Sofi Wicker. The Wildcats won by default on court three with Sacramento State (8-15) suiting up just five players for the match.
The Wildcats stretched their lead to 2-0 with a win on court six before Parker and Megan Lombardi recorded straight-set victories to clinch the match for Weber State. Parker took down Carolina Chernyetsky on court three, 6-2, 6-0, while Lombardi collected a 6-1, 6-3 win over Frana Ugarkovic at No. 5 singles.
Weber State will make its third semifinal appearance in the last four seasons and will look for its first title match showing since 2005 when the Wildcats square off against No. 2 Idaho on Friday at 11 a.m. PT.
After dropping the doubles point, Southern Utah rallied to record an upset win in the Big Sky quarterfinals for the second-straight season. The Thunderbirds will make their third semifinal showing in program history, appearing as the No. 5 seed all three times.
Jana Weiss was the first off the court for Southern Utah (13-10) following a 6-2, 6-3 win over Zoey Nelson at No. 2 singles.
Rylee Braeden put Eastern Washington (12-10) back in front with a 6-3, 6-4 victory on court three over Zoe Tanti before Daniela Cozzi evened the match for SUU with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles over Faye Worrall.
At No. 1, Madeline Lamoreaux lifted the Eagles to their final lead at 3-2 following a 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 win over Ghita Nassik.
The Thunderbirds collected a pair of three-set thrillers in their comeback with Jessica Stefan knotting the match at 3-3 with her 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Yasmin Mansouri at No. 6.
Charity Sagiao provided the clincher on court four as the senior picked up a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Louise Waite to send the Thunderbirds into the semifinals.
The Eagles were upset in the quarterfinal round for the second-straight season.
Southern Utah will square off against top seed Northern Arizona tomorrow at 11 a.m. PT for a trip to Saturday’s title match.