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CALIFORNIA (April 10) – The No. 8 California University of Pennsylvania tennis team captured an outright Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West title for the eighth-consecutive season on Tuesday afternoon with a 9-0 victory over No. 44 Slippery Rock on Senior Day at Roadman Park.
With the win, the Vulcans improve to 18-5 this season behind an eight-match winning streak. Cal U finishes divisional play this year with a 5-0 mark and hasn't lost a match against a PSAC opponent since the 2005-06 season. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock finishes the regular season with a 14-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in league action.
Cal U cruised to a sweep in doubles play, losing only six games in three matches. At the first position, senior
Martina Rubesova (Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Dr. Vaclava Smejkala) and
Franziska Steinhardt (Bad Lausick, Germany/St. Augustin Gymnasium) posted an 8-1 win over The Rock's regionally-ranked tandem of Dunja Drmac and Sarah Lynch. Senior
Annabel Pieschl (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) and junior
Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) earned their team-leading 25th doubles victory of the season by dealing Lauren Coggins and Elisabeth Yetiskul an 8-2 defeat at the second slot. Freshman
Ramona Czakon (Trier, Germany/Tampereen Lyseon Lukio) and senior
Anastassiya Zherdeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Gumnasia Number 60) closed doubles play with an 8-3 win at the third position against Slippery Rock's Samantha Bruggeman and Janelle Krantz.
In singles, the match featured the top-five ranked singles players in the Atlantic Region. At the first position, No. 12 Rubesova collected a 6-1, 6-0 victory against No. 34 Lynch to mark her seventh win of the season against a regionally-ranked opponent. Pieschl tallied her seventh-straight win in singles play after earning a 6-1, 6-0 victory over regionally-ranked Drmac at the second slot. The reigning PSAC West Athlete of the Week, Pondicas earned a 6-1, 6-1, win at third singles against Yetiskul on Tuesday.
At the fourth slot, Zherdeva downed Krantz by a 6-1, 6-0 margin for her 19th win of the season. Steinhardt registered a 6-0, 6-2 victory at fifth singles against Coggins and Czakon posted a 6-1, 6-1 win against Bruggeman at the sixth position.
Cal U closes out the regular season on Friday, April 13, when it travels to face Villanova at 1:30 p.m. The Vulcans have posted five wins against NCAA Division I programs this season, including victories over BIG EAST-members Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and West Virginia.