SAN DIEGO — No. 29 USD women's tennis was narrowly defeated by the 26th ranked Washington Huskies on Sunday afternoon, dropping a close 4-3 match at Skip and Cindy Hogan Tennis Center. 

The Toreros trailed from the start, until Hannah Read made a miraculous comeback in number three singles to tie the match up at three points each with one court left to play, but a strong effort from Gabby Gregg on court six fell just short as San Diego narrowly lost to Washington. 

The difference came in the doubles point, which the Huskies took with wins on court two and three, despite a dominant 6-0 performance from Anni Puls and Read in number one doubles. 

In singles, Washington took a quick 2-0 lead after Kristina Nordikyan fell in her match on court two by 6-2 margins in both the first and second sets. Claudia de las Heras then earned a point back for the Toreros by dominating her opponent by scores of 6-2 and 6-2 to move the score to 2-1, still in favor of Washington. 

Brionna Nguyen was then defeated in number six singles allowing the Huskies to retake their two point lead. Puls finished next and took down her opponent in straight sets (6-4, 6-2) to pull San Diego back within one point at 3-2, leaving court three and court six left to play. 

After going down early in each of their first two sets, Gregg and Read each needed to complete third set comebacks to give USD a chance at victory. 

Read made quick work of her opponent in set two, defeating Washington's Alexia Jacobs 6-3 after falling 2-6 in set one. In an absolute battle in set three, Read forced a tie-breaker and eventually came out victorious after winning her tie-breaker by a 7-3 mark.  Her win in number three singles tied the match up at three points each, turning the attention to Gregg on court six for the deciding point. 

A close contest in set two from Gregg saw her win in a tie-breaker (7-4) to force a set three, after she went down 6-3 in the first set. She fell in a hole early in the third set, and just couldn't recover, allowing the Huskies to narrowly take the match with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6 result.

Up Next
After three straight matches in three days, the Toreros will rest up and be back in action next Sunday, hosting the No. 23 UCLA Bruins at home.  

Results

#26 Washington 4, #29 San Diego 3

Doubles
1. Anni Puls/Hannah Read (USD-W) def. Reece Carter/Alexia Jacobs (WASH) 6-0
2. Sophie Luescher/Erika Matsuda (WASH) def. Claudia de las Heras/Gabby Gregg (USD-W) 6-4
3. McKenna Koenig/Carina Syrtveit (WASH) def. Brionna Nguyen/Kristina Nordikyan (USD-W) 7-6 (7-3)

Singles
1. Claudia de las Heras (USD-W) def. Erika Matsuda (WASH) 6-2, 6-2 
2. Reece Carter (WASH) def. Kristina Nordikyan (USD-W) 6-2, 6-2
3. Hannah Read (USD-W) def. Alexia Jacobs (WASH) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) 
4. Anni Puls (USD-W) def. McKenna Koenig (WASH) 6-4, 6-2
5. Sophie Luescher (WASH) def. Gabby Gregg (USD-W) 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4 
6. Carina Syrtveit (WASH) def. Brionna Nguyen (USD-W) 6-2, 6-4 

Match Notes
Washington 7-1, 0-0 Big Ten; National ranking #26 San Diego 5-7, 0-0 WCC; National ranking #29 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,1,6,4,3,5) 
Official: Mari Taylor T-3:46 A-75