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Box Score
SURPRISE, Ariz. (May 9) – The No. 15 California University of Pennsylvania tennis team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament with a 5-0 loss in the quarterfinals against No. 3 BYU-Hawaii on Thursday afternoon.
With the loss, the Vulcans finish the year at 17-10 overall after advancing to the quarterfinals for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Meanwhile, the Seasiders improve to 29-1 this year and will face No. 5 Abilene Christian (Texas) in the semifinals tomorrow, Friday, May 10.
BYU-Hawaii opened play on Thursday with a sweep in doubles play, marking the first time Cal U lost a doubles match since April 6. The teams, which are both conference champions, combined to feature three of the top-15 doubles teams in the country. At the second position, sophomore
Ramona Czakon (Trier, Germany/Tampereen Lyseon Lukio) and freshman
Alexandra Borgenhoff (Alingsas, Sweden/Katrinelund) opened the afternoon by suffering an 8-1 loss to the No. 9 tandem of Marika Kobayashi and Marietta Tuionetoa. The No. 11 duo of junior
Lucie Sipkova (Pardubice, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Pardubice Mozartova) and sophomore
Lucie Rey (Geneva, Switzerland/Colombieres) then dropped an 8-1 match at the first slot against the No. 1 tandem of Annie Hwang and Sherry Liu. The Seasiders completed the sweep, as senior
Jade Pondicas (Johannesburg, South Africa/British International Distance) and freshman
Maxime Colen (Breda, Netherlands/Newman) were dealt an 8-6 defeat by Jade Griffin and Sasha Ulbrichtova at third doubles.
The Seasiders clinched the victory with two wins in singles play, while also holding the lead in three of the four remaining matches. In a match featuring two nationally-ranked players, No. 43 Czakon suffered her first lost since March 20 by falling 6-0, 6-2 at the second position to No. 6 Liu. Rey then suffered a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Tuionetoa, as the match was clinched at fourth singles. The team's lone senior, Pondicas won her first set against Ulbrichtova at the fifth slot by a 6-2 margin. She finished her career with an 84-27 record in singles action and a 95-32 mark in doubles play.
