PLEASANTON, Calif. -- With the match tied at four apiece, it came down to Lauren Ha at No. 6 singles and she came up big with a win in straight sets to extend the Sonoma State women's tennis team's win streak to nine games -- the most since the 1997 season -- with Saturday's exciting 5-4 victory over 20th-ranked Cal State L.A. at the ClubSport Tennis Center in Pleasanton.  The 35th-ranked Seawolves rise to 13-4 this season ahead of Wednesday's showdown with third-ranked and undefeated BYU-Hawaii.  The Golden Eagles fall to 4-8.

The match got off to a good start in favor of Sonoma State as the pairings of Leire Martinez/Lauren Ha and Sheena Johnson/Karlee Budge at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, earned a pair of 8-5 wins to put the Seawolves up 2-1 heading into the singles competition.

After a short break, the teams got back to work, and while every singles match was decided in straight sets, it would be the order of finish to keep the result of the match unknown until the final point was scored.  Cal State L.A.'s Leora Hemmerich, who is ranked at No. 39 in Division II, upset eighth-ranked Sara Celma (6-2, 6-3) at No. 1 singles, handing Celma her first loss in dual matches this season and snapping her 14-match win streak.  Leire Martinez easily dispatched Tiffani Shaik at No. 2 (6-2, 6-1) to put SSU back on top 3-2 in the match -- Martinez has now won 14 straight matches this season.

The Golden Eagles' Sonia Landeros pulled CSULA even with SSU at 3-3 when she defeated Kaitlyn Haithcock at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-4).  Sheena Johnson's 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4 over Sydney Postal gave the match lead back to Sonoma at 4-3, but CSULA's Tiffany Leung forced another tie after taking care of Karlee Budge at No. 5.  Therefore, it came down to Lauren Ha at the bottom of the lineup, but it didn't take long to determine the outcome as the senior was cruising to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Victoria Vo, which clinched the match victory for the Seawolves.

Five more matches remain in the regular season for Sonoma State before heading to Arizona on Apr. 16-19 for its first conference tournament as a member of the Pacific West Conference.  The Seawolves will host No. 3 BYU-Hawaii on Wednesday at the SSU Tennis Courts; first serve is scheduled for 11:00 am.  The Seasiders are currently 16-0 this season and will play two more matches before Wednesday's battle in Rohnert Park.

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#35 Sonoma State 5, #20 Cal State L.A. 4
Mar 29, 2014 at Pleasanton, CA (ClubSport Tennis Center)

DOUBLES
1. Leora Hemmerich/Sydney Postal (CSULA) def. Sara Celma/Kaitlyn Haithcock (SSU) 8-4
2. Leire Martinez/Lauren Ha (SSU) def. Sonia Landeros/Tiffany Leung (CSULA) 8-5
3. Sheena Johnson/Karlee Budge (SSU) def. Samantha Sismundo/Sevana Zargarian (CSULA) 8-5

SINGLES
1. Leora Hemmerich (CSULA) def. Sara Celma (SSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Leire Martinez (SSU) def. Tiffani Shaik (CSULA) 6-2, 6-1
3. Sonia Landeros (CSULA) def. Kaitlyn Haithcock (SSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Sheena Johnson (SSU) def. Sydney Postal (CSULA) 6-2, 6-4
5. Tiffany Leung (CSULA) def. Karlee Budge (SSU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Lauren Ha (SSU) def. Victoria Vo (CSULA) 6-1, 6-4

MATCH NOTES
Sonoma State 13-4;  #35 Nationally-ranked
Cal State L.A. 4-8;  #20 Nationally-ranked