By Beth Renkoski

02/24/09

No. 3 Vanguard Clips No. 13 Eagles

Costa Mesa, Calif – The No. 3-ranked Vanguard Lions won as expected today over No. 13-ranked Concordia University. The win did not come easy however, as the Lions needed a strong finish to notch the 5-4 victory in a Golden State Athletic Conference women’s tennis match played at VU's home courts at the Costa Mesa Tennis Center.

Hana Jurcovicova and Kateryna Malakhova earned an 8-2 win in the No. 1 doubles match and the Lions secured a 2-1 lead with an 8-0 victory at No. 3 by Betyel Tesfa and Brittnie Furuvald.

Leading 2-1 after doubles play, the Lions needed to win half of the singles contests to defeat the Eagles. Vanguard did just what it needed to do, as Malakhova (6-1, 6-1) and Anna Valingsten (6-3, 7-5) won in two sets, and Furuvald pulled off a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory in the No. 6 match to seal VU’s 5-4 victory.

The Lions improved to 3-1 overall and in GSAC. The will be back on the courts on Thursday at Azusa Pacific in another GSAC matchup. Go Lions.

Today’s Match Scores:

No. 3 Vanguard (3-1, 3-1 GSAC) vs. No. 13 CUI
Doubles
1. Jurcovicova/Malakhova vs. Sher/Yep VU 8-2
2. Valingsten/Xavier vs. Kimura/Flor CUI 8-4
3. Tesfa/Furuvald vs. Mazaheri/Vanier VU 8-0
Singles
1. Hana Jurcovicova vs. Jennifer Sher CUI 6-1, 6-4
2. Betyel Tesfa vs. Jordan Kimura CUI 7-5, 6-1
3. Kateryna Malakhova vs. Kristin Yep VU 6-1, 6-1
4. Anna Valingsten vs. Cristina Flor VU 6-3, 7-5
5. Maria F. Xavier vs. Jaleh Mazaheri CUI 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Brittnie Furuvald vs. Natalie Vanier VU 6-2, 4-6, 6-4

Final score: VU 5 CUI 4
VU Season record 3-1 (3-1)