April 23, 2011
WCC Tournament Central
SAN DIEGO, Calif.- The University of San Diego women's tennis team came up just short of winning its first West Coast Conference title in school history as they fell to second-seeded Pepperdine 4-2 in the tournament final on Saturday afternoon from Barnes Tennis Center. The No. 1-seed Toreros (18-5, 5-3 WCC) were unable to bounce back from losing the doubles point, while the Waves (14-7, 6-0 WCC) claimed their 22nd WCC title.
USD started the day strong with a doubles win at No. 1 as No. 85 Stephanie Hoffpauir and Juliette Coupez defeated No. 53 Marie Zalameda and Anamika Bhargava 8-2. However, the momentum would be short-lived as the Waves came back with an 8-5 victory at No. 2 with No. 66 Khunpak Issara and Ale Granillo topping Josymar Escalona and Laura Claus.
With the doubles point hinging on the outcome at No. 3, Maja Sujica and Anna Depenau were edged 8-6 by Pepperdine's Arianna Colffer and Ali Walters.
Singles play started with Escalona falling to Bhargava 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2, putting the Waves up 2-0. Sujica was then downed at No. 5, losing to Zalameda 6-2, 6-1, snapping Sujica's nine-match winning streak.
The Toreros bounced back, however, with Depenau pulling out a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 6 to keep USD alive. Claus followed with a win of her own, as she bested Granillo 6-2, 6-4 to keep her 15-match singles winning streak alive.
That would end up being the end of the Torero momentum, though, as Issara defeated Coupez at No. 4 by a score of 7-5, 6-3 to clinch the victory for the Waves.
The Toreros lost to Pepperdine earlier this season 4-3 on January 31st in the ITA Kickoff Weekend at UCLA.
USD will wait to see what their NCAA destiny is in the next two weeks. The 2011 NCAA Division I men's and women's tennis selection announcements will be on www.NCAA.com, Tuesday, May 3rd. The women's show will air at 2 p.m. Pacific time and the men's show will air at 2:30 p.m. Pacific time.
April 23rd, 2011
(2) #29 Pepperdine 4, (1) #27 San Diego 2
Barnes Tennis Center
West Coast Conference Championships- Finals
Doubles
(1) #85 Hoffpauir/Coupez (USD) def. #53 Zalameda/Bhargava (PEP) 8-2
(2) #66 Issara/Granillo (PEP) def. Claus/Escalona (USD) 8-5
(3) Colffer/Walters (PEP) def. Sujica/Depenau (USD) 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3*
Pepperdine wins doubles point.
Singles
(1) #69 Stephanie Hoffpauir (USD) vs. Arianna Colffer (PEP) 2-6, 6-2, 3-1 DNF
(2) Anamika Bhargava (PEP) def. Josymar Escalona (USD) 6-2, 6-1
(3) Laura Claus (USD) def. Ale Granillo (PEP) 6-2, 6-4
(4) Khunpak Issara (PEP) def. Juliette Coupez (USD) 7-5, 6-3
(5) Marie Zalameda (PEP) def. Maja Sujica (USD) 6-2, 6-1
(6) Anna Depenau (USD) def. Megan Moore (PEP) 6-3, 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 5, 6, 3, 4*
*Clinching match.
Match Notes:
San Diego: 18-5 (5-3 WCC)
Pepperdine: 14-7 (6-0 WCC)
