ROHNERT PARK, Calif. -- After taking two out of three in doubles play, Sonoma State fell into a back-and-forth battle with visiting Western New Mexico, but held on to a narrow 4-3 lead with two matches left to complete.  However, it was the play of Sheena Johnson that clinched the victory for the Seawolves with a hard-fought, come-from-behind win at No. 6 singles and Stephanie Hoffmire put the exclamation mark on the match with her tightly-contested win at No. 4, giving Sonoma State the 6-3 victory over the Mustangs on a warm Friday afternoon at the SSU Tennis Courts. 

The Seawolves snap a four-match skid, improving to 4-5 this season.  The Mustangs fall to 2-9.

The pairings of Brooke McBride/Hoffmire (8-5) and Johnson/Lauren Ha (8-3) got Sonoma State off to a fast start with convincing wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, respectively, putting the Seawolves up 2-1 heading into the singles competition.

Ha came up with a huge victory at No. 5 singles (6-1, 6-0), but Western New Mexico claimed wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles to knot the match at 3-3.  McBride then came through with a 7-5, 6-1 triumph at No. 3 singles to give Sonoma State the one point lead at 4-3. 

The final two matches that would decide the match turned out to be a pair of battles between Hoffmire and her opponent, Doris Berberic, and Johnson against Davida Aragon.  After falling in the first set, Johnson rebounded with a couple of convincing wins in the final two sets to win (6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2) and give the Seawolves their fourth victory of the season.

Despite the fact that the match had already been decided, Hoffmire continued to battle with Berberic as the heat of the Sonoma County sun began to set in.  Hoffmire took the first set via a tiebreaker, then Berberic snatched a narrow win in the second set to force the deciding third set.  It was there that Hoffmire prevailed, winning with scores of 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-4; it was her first singles win since Feb. 4.

Sonoma State will return to action on Saturday, playing two matches against two different opponents in two different cities.  The Seawolves will take on Southern Utah in neutral-site action at 9:30 a.m. in San Jose before moving to Belmont to face Notre Dame de Namur at 2:30 p.m.

Sonoma State 6, Western New Mexico 3
Mar 09, 2012 at Rohnert Park, Calif. (SSU Tennis Courts)

Doubles competition
1.  Ganna Tiurina/Nikolina Vukadin (WNMU) def. Megan White/Krista Cole (SSU) 8-4
2.  Brooke McBride/Stephanie Hoffmire (SSU) def. Ashley Newell/Doris Berberic (WNMU) 8-5
3.  Sheena Johnson/Lauren Ha (SSU) def. Davida Aragon/Dena Irvin (WNMU) 8-3

Singles competition
1.  Tiurina (WNMU) def. White (SSU) 6-4, 6-3
2.  Vukadin (WNMU) def. Cole (SSU) 6-4, 7-5
3.  McBride (SSU) def. Newell (WNMU) 7-5, 6-1
4.  Hoffmire (SSU) def. Berberic (WNMU) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-4
5.  Ha (SSU) def. Irvin (WNMU) 6-1, 6-0
6.  Johnson (SSU) def. Aragon (WNMU) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-2