• Box Score vs. George Washington
• Box Score vs. West Virginia

CALIFORNIA (Feb. 20) – Facing a pair of NCAA Division I programs this weekend, the No. 8 Vulcans managed a split as they earned a 4-3 victory over West Virginia at Ridgeview Racquet Club on Sunday afternoon.

The California University of Pennsylvania tennis team suffered a 5-4 loss to George Washington on Saturday night. With the split, the Vulcans move to 9-2 this season with five wins over NCAA Division I programs. Meanwhile, GW improves to 7-2 and WVU drops to 2-6 this year.

Against the Mountaineers on Sunday, the Vulcans captured the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. Juniors Axelle Fernandez (Toulouse, France/Institut Familial) and Anastassiya Zherdeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Gumnasia Number 60) collected an 8-4 victory at second doubles over WVU's Emily Mathis and Liv Pettersson. In third doubles, senior Nina Kowalski (Hofheim, Germany/Man Taunus) and junior Franziska Steinhardt (Bad Lausick, Germany/St. Augustin Gymnasium) dealt Ashley Pilsbury and Melis Tanik an 8-6 defeat.

In singles play, No. 20-ranked Annabel Pieschl (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) rallied to post a three-set victory at the first slot over Tanik, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. Sophomore Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance), the No. 42-ranked player in NCAA Division II, earned a 6-2, 7-6 win against Veronica Cardenas at fourth singles. Kowalski then posted her first singles victory this spring on Sunday, claiming a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Mountaineers' Pettersson.

On Saturday, Cal U jumped to a quick 3-0 lead after sweeping doubles play against George Washington. Pieschel and Pondicas, the second-ranked doubles team in the Atlantic Region, earned an 8-4 win at first doubles over the Colonials' Mimi Hamling and Zoe Krohn. Fernanez and Zherdeva posted an 8-4 victory at the second slot, while Kowalski and Steinhardt collected an 8-6 win against Julia Blakeley and Isabella Escobar in third doubles.

GW then rallied to win the match by claiming five of the six singles points, as Steinhardt tallied the only victory in singles for the Vulcans. At the second position, she rallied to earn a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 win over Blakeley. Cal U nearly won the first set at fourth, fifth and sixth singles before Pondicas, Fernandez and Kowalski each dropped their first set in singles by a 7-6 count.

The Vulcans return to action on Saturday, Feb. 26, when they travel to College Park, Md., to face Maryland, their sixth NCAA Division I opponent this spring.