• Box Score

MONROEVILLE, Pa. (April 8) – The No. 13 Vulcans took sole possession of first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West standings on Friday evening by claiming a 9-0 win against Mercyhurst at Club Sport and Health.

With its fifth-straight win, the California University of Pennsylvania tennis team improves to 16-7 this season with a 3-0 mark in league play. Meanwhile, the Lakers are now 17-4 overall and 2-1 in divisional action.

The Vulcans swept doubles play for the fifth-straight match and 12th time this season. At first doubles, the No. 20-ranked tandem of junior Annabel Pieschl (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) and Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) collected an 8-4 with over Lakers' Caroline Bristol and Kim Ezzo, the fifth-ranked doubles team in the region. Juniors Axelle Fernandez (Toulouse, France/Institut Familial) and Anastassiya Zherdeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Gumnasia Number 60) extended their win streak to seven matches by posting an 8-2 win at the second slot against Rebecca Haener and Kelton Macke. Senior Laurie Navarro (Eysus, France/Jules Supervielle) and junior Franziska Steinhardt (Bad Lausick, Germany/St. Augustin Gymnasium) closed doubles play by dealing Mercyhurst's Jenna Raynor and Courtney Thompson an 8-3 defeat at the third position.

In singles action, Pieschl earned her team-leading 25th win of the season by claiming a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ezzo, the eighth-ranked player in the region, at the first slot. Pondicas topped Bristol at second singles 6-4, 6-2 for her fifth-straight victory, while Steinhardt collected a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Haener at the third position.

Zherdeva tallied a 6-2, 6-0 win at fourth singles over Macke and Fernandez blanked Raynor, 6-0, 6-0, at the fifth spot. Navarro added a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Thompson at the sixth position on Friday.

The Vulcans are scheduled to conclude the regular season on Tuesday, April 12, when they travel to face No. 39 Slippery Rock for a match at 3:30 p.m. With a win over The Rock, Cal U would win the PSAC West for the seventh-straight season.