• Box Score vs. Charleston (W.Va.)
• Box Score vs. West Virginia State

INSTITUTE, W.Va. (April 1) – The No. 8 California University of Pennsylvania tennis team collected a pair of road victories over regionally-ranked Charleston (W.Va.), 9-0, and West Virginia State, 8-1, on Thursday afternoon.

With the wins, the Vulcans improve to 15-5 overall this year with a 9-1 mark against regionally-ranked teams. Meanwhile, Charleston falls to 19-5 and West Virginia State drops to 16-3 this season.

Against Charleston, the Vulcans swept the doubles session after losing only six combined games. Cal U freshman Jutta Bornefeld (Varel, Germany/Lother-Meyer Gymnasium) and junior Galina Vishnikina (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Sport Military) shutout Alyssa Hackworth and Neha Rana, 8-0, at the first slot. The 17th-ranked doubles team of junior Nina Kowalski (Hofheim, Germany/Man Taunus) and sophomore Alina Stanila (Alexandria, Romania/Technical) dealt Sarah Monsheimer and Christina Samoilov an 8-1 defeat at the second position, while freshman Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) and sophomore Anastassiya Zherdeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Gumnasia Number 60) earned an 8-5 victory over the Golden Eagles' Ilaisanne Carter and Laura Smith.

Cal U went on to win all six singles matches in straight sets at Charleston. Zherdeva picked up a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Rana, the eight-ranked singles player in the region, at first singles and Bornefeld dealt Hackworth a 6-3, 6-4 defeat at the second slot. Stanila collected a 6-2, 6-1 win at the third position over Monsheimer.

Kowalski added to the Vulcans' lead at the fourth slot with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Samoilov. Pondicas finished off Smith 6-0, 6-0 at the fifth position and sophomore Axelle Fernandez (Toulouse, France/Institut Familial) dealt a 6-1, 6-0 defeat to Davina Holtfretter at sixth singles.

After its win at Charleston, Cal U traveled to nearby Institute, W.Va., and claimed an 8-1 victory over West Virginia State.

Against the Yellow Jackets, the Vulcans took a 3-0 lead after sweeping the three doubles matches. The nationally-ranked duo of Kowalski and Stanila knocked off Brittany Craig and Eben Russell by an 8-2 count at the second slot and the tandem of Bornefeld and Vishnikina posted an 8-0 shutout win at the first position over West Virginia State's Erika Acosta and Teddi Russell. Cal U completed the sweep at third doubles where Pondicas and Zherdeva claimed an 8-1 win over Emily Bowlin and Meghan Stewart.

In singles action, 20th-ranked Bornefeld dealt Teddi Russell a 6-2, 6-3 defeat at the second slot, while 50th-ranked Stanila earned a 6-0, 6-0 shutout victory at the third position over Bowlin. At the fourth position, Kowalski also collected a 6-0, 6-0 win against Acosta.

Since joining the program in the spring, Pondicas has earned 14 singles wins after claiming a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Eben Russell. Fernandez posted her second singles victory of the day with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Stewart.

Zherdeva, the second-ranked singles player in the region, lost the only match of the day for Cal U, falling to Craig at first doubles, 6-4, 7-5.

Cal U will play its fourth match in three days tomorrow, April 2, when it hosts Shippensburg at 3:30 p.m. The match marks the first competition for the Vulcans at their newly constructed tennis complex in Roadman Park.