DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis women's tennis dropped the doubles point in a deciding match, before storming back from a 0-2 deficit to win four singles over the Tigers for a 4-3 team victory. This is the first win of the season for the 2019 squad, giving them confidence before starting Big West Conference play next weekend.
Head coach Bill Maze had three words to say upon the conclusion of Sunday's matchup: "have no doubt." This dual was certainly a gutsy one, with three matches going to a third set, and the day requiring nearly four hours before a winner was determined.
In doubles play, Kelsie Bryant and Sara Tsukamoto recorded their first dual win together at the No. 1 position, taking out Anneroos Nederstigt and Maya Lopez 6-4 for the only UC Davis doubles win.
Pacific won the first singles match of the day on court six to go up 2-0 overall. This would be the only lead for the Tigers, as Tsukamoto dispatched Pacific's Jacquie Tan 6-3, 6-3 to kick-off a UC Davis comeback. Pradeep followed up with her second win at No. 1, defeating Dohee Lee 6-2, 7-6(4), extending her home singles record to 18-2 all time.
The final three matches on the court were in three set battles, with either team needing two matches to claim an overall victory. Shirley Hall notched her fifth third set victory in the 2018-19 year, defeating Anna Ramos Vinolas 6-2 in the third set.
With all eyes on the last two remaining courts, the situation was similar to the last home match against San Francisco, where Kristina Breisacher and Isabella von Ebbe were the deciding factors. However, this time the score favored the Aggies with a 3-2 advantage. Breisacher came back from a 1-4 hole in the third set, winning four straight games to take a 5-4 lead. Pacific's Lopez was not to be put away quietly, and the duo reached a tiebreaker to decide the match, with Breisacher, and the Aggies, coming out on top, for a 4-2 clinch. After the match had been decided, von Ebbe fell to Nederstigt, resulting in a 4-3 overall score.
"As I said to the team afterwards, we're going to have a lot of these 50-50 matches. If you don't win some, you lose confidence, and this was a great match to win with such a gutsy effort," added Maze later. "Kristina was down 4-1 in the third, and had such amazing guts for someone who has played very few matches in the last nine months, and Bella was grinding away. It was just such a great team effort after losing the doubles point -- and we've been good in doubles this year. To win the way we did was just impressive."
The Aggies will kick off conference play with a three-match road swing in Southern California, taking on UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, and CSUN over the President's Day weekend.
Pacific vs UC Davis
2/10/2019 at Davis, Calif.
(Marya Welch Tennis Center)
UC Davis 4, Pacific 3
Doubles
1. Kelsie Bryant/Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) def. Nederstigt, Anneroos/Lopez, Maya (PAC) 6-4
2. Lee, Dohee/Tan, Jacquie (PAC) def. Shirley Hall/Nikita Pradeep (UCD) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Ramos Vinolas, Anna/Rodriguez, Sabrina (PAC) def. Kristina Breisacher/Isabella von Ebbe(UCD) 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. Nikita Pradeep (UCD) def. Lee, Dohee (PAC) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
2. Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) def. Tan, Jacquie (PAC) 6-3, 6-3
3. Nederstigt, Anneroos (PAC) def. Isabella von Ebbe (UCD) 5-7, 7-6, 6-1
4. Kristina Breisacher (UCD) def. Lopez, Maya (PAC) 6-4, 1-6, 7-6
5. Shirley Hall (UCD) def. Ramos Vinolas, Anna (PAC) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
6. Townsend, Georgia (PAC) def. Skyler Holm (UCD) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 5, 4*, 3
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