UC Davis at St. Mary's
Saturday, Mar. 16, 2019
1 PM
Moraga Country Club // Moraga, Calif.
DAVIS, Calif. — In a match much closer than the score portrays, the UC Davis Aggies fell to the Utah State Aggies, 4-1, at the Marya Welch Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
On a 70-degree and sunny afternoon, UC Davis took the doubles point with a highly contested match on court two. The Aggies split the first two matches off, with UC Davis grabbing the match at No. 3 with a 6-3 win from Jessica Walker and Kristina Breisacher. This marks Walker's first doubles dual win of her career, and just her second overall.
With all eyes on No. 2 doubles, Nikita Pradeep and Shirley Hall kept their cool, as they remained on serve at 4-5 with Pradeep serving. Reaching a 0-30 deficit off the bat, Pradeep played a solid four consecutive points to hold serve, putting the ball back onto USU's court. After Utah State held to go up 6-5, Hall found herself serving at 30-40 to stay in the match. Saving two match points, Hall hit a big winner up the line to force deuce, and eventually closed her service game to force the tiebreaker to decide the doubles point. Putting the team on her back, Hall carried her clutch play into the breaker, and the duo prevailed 7-2 to clinch the doubles point for their fifth dual match win together
Transitioning into singles play, Utah State took the lead 3-1, winning the first three matches at Nos. 5, 6, and 3, but UC Davis remained locked in battle on the remaining courts, putting the match within reach for either team. On court one, Sara Tsukamoto had won the first set, and was fighting in the second, while on courts two and four, Hall and Walker were staging comebacks to force a third set.
Walker dropped the opening frame 6-1, but rebounded to take the second set 6-2, while Hall displayed her grit at No. 2, saving a total of four match points to claim the second set. Falling victim to several no-ad deuce games, Hall fought back from 30-40 at 5-6 to force a tiebreaker, and again found herself down, this time 4-6 in the breaker. Playing a gutsy point at 5-6, Hall painted the line to earn a few more short balls, and closed the net in a streak of four consecutive points to claim the tiebreaker and the second set.
At the conclusion of Hall's second set, Walker found herself at a 1-5 deficit in the third, but continued to fight, closing the gap to 4-5. Utah State's Gabrielle Dekkers served out the match 6-4 to clinch the 4-1 result. Both Hall and Tsukamoto were beginning their third sets at the clinch, and their matches were left unfinished.
The UC Davis Aggies will be back on the courts tomorrow, traveling to face the St. Mary's Gaels at the Moraga Country Club. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 PM. This will be the last matchup for the Aggies until spring break, when UC Davis will travel to Stanford on Mar. 25th at 4 PM.
Utah State 4, UC Davis 1
March 15, 2019
Davis, Calif.
Doubles
1. Sidnee Lavatai/Alexandra Pisareva (US) def. Kelsie Bryant/Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) 6-1
2. Shirley Hall/Nikita Pradeep (UCD) def. Alexandra Taylor/Hannah Jones (US) 7-6 (7-2)
3. Kristina Breisacher/Jessica Walker (UCD) def. Annaliese County/Lucy Octave (US) 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*
Singles
1. Sara Tsukamoto (UCD) vs. Alexandra Pisareva (US) 6-4, 4-6, unfinished
2. Shirley Hall (UCD) vs. Lucy Octave (US) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), unfinished
3. Hannah Jones (US) def. Kristina Breisacher (UCD) 6-3, 6-0
4. Gabrielle Dekkers (US) def. Jessica Walker (UCD) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
5. Annaliese County (US) def. Kelsie Bryant (UCD) 6-1, 6-0
6. Sidnee Lavatai (US) def. Skyler Holm (UCD) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 3, 4*
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation, according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO
Established during the 2017-18 academic year, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
