March 7, 2008
LONG BEACH, Calif. - UC Davis was defeated by Long Beach State, 6-1, Friday afternoon in a Big West Conference women's tennis match at the El Dorado Tennis Center. Long Beach State, which entered the match ranked No. 40 in the latest ITA poll, swept doubles and fought off UC Davis with five singles wins. Emma Shapiro picked up the lone Aggie point with a straight sets win at No. 5.
Long Beach State improved to 7-4 overall and remained perfect in the Big West at 3-0. UC Davis fell to 7-6 on the year and 1-2 in the conference. The 49ers are four-time defending champions of the Big West.
Long Beach State finished all three doubles matches within a three-minute span. The first to finish were Stephanie Jeanes and Jessica Weeks, who defeated Anita Athavale and Herzyl Legaspi, 8-0, at No. 2. The duo of Deborah Armstrong and Lisa Sutton posted an 8-2 victory at No. 3 against Robin Guier and Emma Shapiro to clinch the doubles point. The final match to finish was on court 1 where Stephanie Bengson and Hannah Grady defeated Randi Schuler and Desiree Stone, 8-1.
LBSU had a quick start in singles with wins in straight sets at No. 1 and No. 2. Grady, ranked No. 72 in the nation, gave the 49ers a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Schuler at No. 1. Bengson finished just over 10 minutes later at No. 2 by posting a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Guier. That gave the 49ers a 3-0 lead.
It would be another half hour before another match finished, and that point would go to UC Davis. Shapiro put the finishing touches on a 6-4, 6-4 win over Weeks at No. 5 to pull the Aggies within 3-1. Despite the deficit, the Aggies put a scare into the 49ers as the other three matches were in a third set.
Long Beach State finally clinched the overall win when Jeannes completed a come-from-behind victory at No. 4 over Legaspi, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Stone and Kaitlin Callan overcame first set losses to force a third set against their respective opponents. Stone ultimately was defeated by Armstrong at No. 3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. Callan lost the first set to Sutton at No. 6, 6-4, before taking the second set, 6-4. Sutton won the third set, 6-0, to account for the final point of the day.
UC Davis completes its two-match Big West road trip Saturday at UC Riverside.
No. 40 Long Beach State 6, UC Davis 1
Singles
1. No. 72 Hannah Grady (LBSU) d. Randi Schuler (UCD), 6-3, 6-3.
2. Stephanie Bengson (LBSU) d. Robin Guier (UCD), 6-2, 6-2.
3. Deborah Armstrong (LBSU) d. Desiree Stone (UCD), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
4. Stephanie Jeanes (LBSU) d. Herzyl Legaspi (UCD), 1-6, 7-5, 6-2.
5. Emma Shapiro (UCD) d. Jessica Weeks (LBSU), 6-4, 6-4.
6. Lisa Sutton (LBSU) d. Kaitlin Callan (UCD), 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
Doubles
1. Bengson/Grady (LBSU) d. Schuler/Stone (UCD), 8-1.
2. Jeanes/Weeks (LBSU) d. Anita Athavale /Legaspi (UCD), 8-0.
3. Armstrong/Sutton (LBSU) d. Guier/Shapiro (UCD), 8-2.
