Women's tennis reaches national final

MOBILE, ALA. -- The stage is set for a double national championship for Fresno Pacific tennis. Both Sunbirds team reached their respective finals at the NAIA Championships at Mobile Tennis Center on Friday.

Standing in their way is a familiar foe -- Auburn Montgomery.

The FPU women, runners-up the past four seasons, downed Point Loma Nazarene, 5-1. In Saturday's 8 a.m. PDT final they will try for the fifth straight year to defeat Auburn Montgomery, the NAIA's six-time defending champion.

The Sunbirds women won two of three doubles sets, then got straight-sets singles wins from Cristina Valladares, Erika Januskova and Yulia Blinovskaya.

FPU women have been runners-up to AUM in each of their four seasons since FPU added tennis in 2005.

Fresno Pacific coach Neil Castro said his teams have the talent to win the national titles.

Castro believes his women's team is stronger at Nos. 5 and 6 singles and No. 3 doubles than it has been in previous showdowns against Auburn Montgomery.

"Third doubles and five and six singles is where AUM has really gotten us in the past," he said. "I don't think that will be the case this year."

See complete results below.

Fresno Pacific 5 Point Loma Nazarene 1

DOUBLES
Kristin Strimple/Ashley Litchfield, PLN defeats Katia Sabate/Vanessa Heroux, FPU, 8-5

Sara Celma/Cristina Valladares, FPU defeats Rachel Owens/Jessica Kwan, PLN 8-3
Erika Januskova/Yulia Blinovskaya, FPU defeats Kiersten Steinhauer/Wileen Chiu, PLN 8-2

SINGLES
Kristin Strimple, PLN vs. Katia Sabate, FPU, 6-3, 2-3, DNF
Ashley Litchfield, PLN vs. Sara Celma, FPU 6-6, DNF
Cristina Valladares, FPU defeats Rachel Owens, PLN 6-1, 6-2
Jessica Kwan, PLN vs Vanessa Heroux, FPU, 2-6, 2-2, DNF
Erika Januskova, FPU defeats Kiersten Steinhauer, 6-0, 6-1
Yulia Blinovskaya, FPU defeats Wileen Chiu, 6-0, 6-4

Print Friendly Version