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CALIFORNIA (March 10) – The No. 9 California University of Pennsylvania tennis team opened Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West play on Sunday afternoon with an 8-1 victory over No. 35 IUP at Roadman Park.
With the win, the Vulcans improve to 5-5 this season with a 4-1 mark at home. Cal U and IUP are the top-ranked teams in the Atlantic Region after both programs advanced to the national site of the NCAA Tournament last season. Meanwhile, the Crimson Hawks drop to 2-4 overall.
Cal U took an early 2-1 lead by claiming two of the three doubles matches. At the third position, freshmen
Maxime Colen (Breda, Netherlands/Newman) and
Elizabeth Guy (Quebec City, Quebec/Cardinal-Roy) opened doubles play with an 8-1 loss to Abby McCormick and Alanna McFail. The Vulcans evened the match at second doubles when sophomore
Ramona Czakon (Trier, Germany/Tampereen Lyseon Lukio) and freshman
Alexandra Borgenhoff (Alingsas, Sweden/Katrinelund) collected an 8-3 victory against Tanya Timko and Emilia Osbourne, the fifth-ranked doubles team in the region. Junior
Lucie Sipkova (Pardubice, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Pardubice Mozartova) and sophomore
Lucie Rey (Geneva, Switzerland/Colombieres) closed the session with an 8-3 win over Katie Eaton and Erika Schnaas, another top-10 doubles team in the regional rankings.
The Vulcans swept singles play for the first time in two-plus weeks, winning each match in straight sets. Senior
Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) opened singles play with a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Schnaas at the fifth position and Borgenhoff then tallied a 6-2, 6-1 win over McCormick at the third slot. Sipkova clinched the match victory at first singles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Timko, the sixth-ranked singles player in the region.
Rey collected a 6-3, 6-4 win against Osbourne at the fourth position and Czakon registered a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Eaton at second singles. Cal U completed the sweep in singles play when Colen outlasted McFail at the sixth slot by a 6-4, 7-6 count.
The Vulcans return to action tomorrow, Monday, March 11, when they travel to Philadelphia, Pa., to face Temple at 9 a.m.
Note: Cal U and IUP were scheduled to play on Tuesday, March 12, before the match was moved to Sunday due to weather conditions.
