• Box Score vs. West Chester
• Box Score vs. Cheyney
• Photo Gallery

CALIFORNIA (Sept. 17) – In its first action at home this season, the California University of Pennsylvania tennis team collected a pair of 9-0 victories in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover action against West Chester and Cheyney on Friday afternoon at Roadman Park.

With the wins, the Vulcans improve to 3-0 this fall. Meanwhile, the Golden Rams fall to 2-1 this year after appearing in the PSAC Tournament last season and the Wolves drop to 0-2.

Against West Chester, Cal U took an early lead by sweeping the three doubles matches after losing only a combined four games. At the first position, sophomore Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) and junior transfer Franziska Steinhardt (Bad Lausick, Germany/St. Augustin Gymnasium) earned an 8-3 victory over Brittany Counts and Luisiana Souto. Juniors Axelle Fernandez (Toulouse, France/Institut Familial) and Anastassiya Zherdeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Gumnasia Number 60) posted an 8-1 win at second doubles against Alison Fetter and Alex Santoro, while seniors Nina Kowalski (Hofheim, Germany/Man Taunus) and Laurie Navarro (Eysus, France/Jules Supervielle) blanked Lauren Ioo and Nikky Paller at the third position, 8-0.

In singles play, Pondicas earned her first career win at the top slot by dealing a score of 6-1, 6-2 to defeat Counts. Steinhardt collected a 6-0, 6-3 victory at second singles, while Fernandez posted a 6-1, 6-3 win at the third position over Claire Afrassiabian. At the fourth slot, Zherdeva registered a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Santoro. Kowalski and Navarro added 6-0, 6-0 wins at fifth and sixth singles, respectively.

Cal U dominated Cheyney in the second match of the day, as the Wolves only traveled five players and were unable to win a game in the seven matches completed. At first doubles, Bornefeld and Steinhardt recorded an 8-0 victory against Christina Schaffer and Saquatia Knight, while Pondicas and junior transfer Annabel Pieschl (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) finished with an 8-0 win over D'atra Jackson and Smantha Grier.

Bornefeld returned back to the first-singles position and posted a straight-set win over Knight and Pondicas defeated Grier by a 6-0, 6-0 count at second singles. Steinhardt collected a victory against Schaffer at the third slot, while Fernandez earned a 6-0, 6-0 win over Jackson at the fourth position. Zherdeva finished the action with a straight-set victory at fifth singles against Trivera Heard.

The Vulcans will play their final dual match of the fall on Sunday, Sept. 19, when they travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to face James Madison, a NCAA Division I program.