April 21, 2011
WCC Tournament Central
SAN DIEGO, Calif.- The University of San Diego women's tennis team embarked on their quest for their first-ever WCC title with a 4-0 sweep of eighth-seeded San Francisco Thursday morning from Barnes Tennis Center. The No. 1 seed Toreros (17-4, 4-2 WCC), ranked 27th currently, tied USD's 1983 squad for the longest team winning streak in Torero history with their 10th-straight victory and in the process improved to 7-0 against the Dons (5-14, 0-5 WCC) in WCC Championship matches.
The Toreros took control early as Anna Depenau and Maja Sujica made quick work of Melinda Akerbrant and Andrea Gaitan at No. 3, winning 8-1 and improving to 15-2 on the year with their ninth-straight doubles victory.
Not long after, USD's 85th-ranked pair of Juliette Coupez and Stephanie Hoffpauir clinched the doubles point with their 8-4 victory over Yurie Hashiguchi and Cecile Duriez on court one.
With USD in the driver's seat, No. 69 Hoffpauir cruised past Julia Wartenburger 6-2, 6-0 to post the first singles point. Hoffpauir moved to 14-5 on the season. Laura Claus kept the momentum going in USD's favor as she won her career-long 13th-straight singles match by topping Cecilia Gratian 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3 and improving to a team-best 21-6 on the year.
Depenau then wrapped it up for the Toreros at No. 6 when she held off a late charge by Alana McMahon to earn a 6-1, 6-4 victory, her 20th of the season, and get USD started in the WCCs on the right foot.
The Toreros move on to face fourth-seeded Santa Clara at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning in round two of competition at Barnes Tennis Center.
San Diego vs. Santa Clara Notes:
- Santa Clara is 17-4 (6-2 WCC) and currently ranked 57th
- The Broncos defeated fifth-seed Gonzaga 4-1 in their first round matchup on Thursday
- USD defeated Santa Clara 7-0 at USD on March 27th
- USD is 11-0 against Santa Clara all-time, including last year's 4-0 win in the WCC Championships, the only other time these teams have met in the WCCS
April 21st, 2011
(1) #27 San Diego 4, (8) San Francisco 0
West Coast Conference Championships- Round 1
Barnes Tennis Center
Doubles
(1) #85 Coupez/Hoffpauir (USD) def. Hashiguchi/Duriez (USF) 8-4
(2) Claus/Escalona (USD) vs. Gratian/Wartenburger (USF) 5-5 DNF
(3) Sujica/Depenau (USD) def. Akerbrant/Gaitan (USF) 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1*
USD wins doubles point.
Singles
(1) #69 Stephanie Hoffpauir (USD) def. Julia Wartenburger (USF) 6-2, 6-0
(2) Josymar Escalona (USD) vs. Cecile Duriez (USF) DNF
(3) Laura Claus (USD) def. Cecilia Gratian (USF) 6-1, 6-3
(4) Juliette Coupez (USD) vs. Yurie Hashiguchi (USF) DNF
(5) Maja Sujica (USD) vs. Jessy Mekpoh (USF) DNF
(6) Anna Depenau (USD) def. Alana McMahon (USF) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 6*
*Clinching match.
Match Notes:
San Diego: 17-4 (4-2 WCC)
San Francisco: 5-14 (0-5 WCC)
