ROHNERT PARK -- The Sonoma State women's tennis team saw its nine-match win streak end on Wednesday, losing a 9-0 decision to No. 3 BYU-Hawaii at the SSU Tennis Courts in Rohnert Park. The No. 35 Seawolves fell to 13-5, suffering its first loss to a Division II opponent since Feb. 23 -- a 6-3 decision in favor of No. 26 Academy of Art. The Seasiders, ranked third in the nation and first in the west, remain undefeated on the year at 18-0.
Sonoma State dropped all three doubles matches, the closest contest being an 8-4 loss by
Sara Celma and
Kaitlyn Haithcock at No. 1 doubles against the fourth-ranked doubles pairing in the nation, Karen Liu and Nannan Zhang.
The visiting Seasiders cruised to straight-set wins at No. 3, 4, 5 and 6 singles, and while BYUH's Karen Liu -- the 16th-ranked player in Division II -- defeated
Leire Martinez in straight sets (6-3, 6-4), it wasn't without a valiant effort from Martinez.
The ultimate battle came at No. 1 singles between two of the top singles players in the nation, eighth-ranked Celma from SSU and 18th-ranked Zhang from BYUH. Celma took the first set 6-4, but Zhang rallied and tied the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. The ensuing 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match went back-and-forth, but it was Zhang to outlast Celma, who staved off match-point on several occasions in the win-by-two format, for the 15-13 win to capture the 9-0 shutout for BYU-Hawaii, its 12th of the season.
Sonoma State will look to rebound on Friday when it hosts Notre Dame de Namur at the SSU Tennis Courts. First serve is scheduled for 11:00 am.
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#3 BYU-Hawaii 9, #35 Sonoma State 0
Apr 02, 2014 at Rohnert Park, CA (SSU Tennis Courts)
Singles competition1. #18 Nannan Zhang (BYUH) def. #8
Sara Celma (SSU) 4-6, 6-3, 15-13
2. #16 Karen Liu (BYUH) def.
Leire Martinez (SSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Marietta Tuionetoa (BYUH) def.
Kaitlyn Haithcock (SSU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Leah Han (BYUH) def.
Sheena Johnson (SSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Jeong-Min Jeon (BYUH) def.
Lauren Ha (SSU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Jade Griffin (BYUH) def.
Karlee Budge (SSU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition1. #4 Karen Liu/Nannan Zhang (BYUH) def.
Sara Celma/
Kaitlyn Haithcock (SSU) 8-4
2. #7 Marika Kobayashi/Marietta Tuionetoa (BYUH) def.
Leire Martinez/
Lauren Ha (SSU) 8-2
3. Sasha Ulbrichtova/Leah Han (BYUH) def.
Sheena Johnson/
Karlee Budge (SSU) 8-0
Match NotesBYU-Hawaii 18-0; National ranking #3; Regional ranking #1
Sonoma State 13-5; National ranking #35; Regional ranking #9
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