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Box Score
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 17) – The No. 8 California University of Pennsylvania tennis team was eliminated from the NCAA Division II Tournament with a 5-2 loss against defending-National Champion and No. 2 Barry (Fla.) in the quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon.
With the loss, the Vulcans finish the season with a 24-6 overall record. Cal U has posted at least 20 wins in six-consecutive years and has made quarterfinal appearances in five of the last six seasons. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers improve to 26-0 and will face No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic (Ga.) in the semifinals tomorrow, Friday, May 18.
Barry, one of three remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division II, won two of three doubles matches on Thursday. The Bucs opened the match with an 8-2 win at the second position by Olivia Matuszak and Julie Stas over senior
Anastassiya Zherdeva (Almaty, Kazakhstan/Gumnasia Number 60) and freshman
Ramona Czakon (Trier, Germany/Tampereen Lyseon Lukio). The tandem of Linda Fritschken and Caroline Wendling then dealt senior
Annabel Pieschl (Gothenburg, Sweden/Katrinelund) and junior
Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) an 8-5 defeat at third doubles. The Vulcans avoided the doubles sweep when seniors
Martina Rubesova (Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Dr. Vaclava Smejkala) and
Franziska Steinhardt (Bad Lausick, Germany/St. Augustin Gymnasium) posted their team-leading No. 30 win of the season, collecting an 8-6 victory at the first slot against Barry's Mona Mansour and Cristina Valladares – the No. 15 doubles team in the country.
The Bucs clinched the match victory by winning three of the four completed singles matches, while the remaining two singles matches were in the decisive third sets. Mansour opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Steinhardt at the fifth position. Pondicas then collected her fifth win of the year against a regionally-ranked opponent when she registered a 6-3, 6-2 victory at fourth singles over Matuszak. Stas, the No. 46 singles player in NCAA Division II, earned a straight-set victory over Zherdeva at the fourth slot after winning the first set via tiebreaker. The match ended at the second position when No. 15 Fritschken outlasted No. 41 Pieschl by a 6-2, 7-5 margin.
