By Beth Renkoski

4/18/09

No. 2 FPU Hands Loss to No. 9 Lions

Fresno, Calif – NAIA second-ranked Fresno Pacific hosted the ninth-ranked Vanguard University Lions in a GSAC women’s tennis match today in at the Haak Tennis Center in Fresno. With the 2009 GSAC Championship already clinched in hand, the Sunbirds maintained their unblemished GSAC record with a 5-4 victory over the Lions, despite defaulting in doubles play.

Identical to their first meeting, the Sunbirds out-matched the Lions in singles play, winning five out of six matches in straight sets. VU’s only singles point came from Brittnie Furuvald who defeated FPU’s No. 6 player Ashley Sherr, 7-5, 6-3. The second-closest match was Anna Valingsten who lost 6-4, 6-4, at No. 4.

Heading into doubles with the match already clinched with a 5-1 lead, FPU abandoned all three doubles matches due to a medical issue with one of the players. The defaults produced a final score of 5-4.

No. 2-ranked FPU sits in first place of the GSAC standings at 16-0 with one regular season match remaining. The Sunbirds are 19-1 overall.

Vanguard drops to 11-8 overall and 9-7 in GSAC. Sitting in fifth place in the conference standings, only one win ahead of sixth place Point Loma, the ninth-ranked Lions will continue the regular season next Tuesday when they had to Westmont to face the 21st-ranked Warriors.

Today’s Match Scores:

No. 9 Vanguard (11-8, 9-7 GSAC) 4 vs. No. 2 FPU (19-1, 16-0 GSAC) 5

Doubles
1. Jurcovicova/Tesfa vs. Sunbirds VU Default
2. Malakhova/Xavier vs. Sunbirds VU Default
3. Valingsten/Furuvald vs. Sunbirds VU Default
Singles
1. Betyel Tesfa vs. Katia Sabate FPU 6-0, 6-1
2. Hana Jurcovicova vs. Ornella Gentile FPU 6-4, 6-2
3. Kateryna Malakhova vs. Maria Klokotzky FPU 6-1, 6-1
4. Anna Valingsten vs. Vanessa Heroux FPU 6-4, 6-4
5. Maria F. Xavier vs. Elizabeth McFeentens FPU 6-0, 6-1
6. Brittnie Furuvald vs. Ashley Sherr VU 7-5, 6-3

Final score: VU 4 FPU 5
VU Season record 11-8 (9-7)

Order of Finish:
Singles: 1, 2, 5, 4, *2, 6
*denotes match clincher