Fresno Pacific won a battle of the GSAC's top teams on Wednesday, defeating visiting #3 Point Loma Nazarene 6-3. The Sea Lions came in undefeated and got two wins from NAIA champion Kristin Strimple, but the Sunbirds showed their depth in the victory.
Taking a 2-1 lead in the doubles was helpful to the Sunbirds as they got wins from their number two and three pairs. Quick to seal a win for the Sunbirds was Cristina Valladeres and Yumiko Justin playing in the number two position, they came through comfortably 8-2.
Sara Celma and Elizabeth McFeeters took an important victory 8-6 at number three which they were made to work very hard for by the Sea Lions. Marie Boura and Erika Januskova were not able to hold off Strimple and Ashley Litchfield as they went down 8-6.
With a 2-1 lead going into singles this meant three wins were needed in singles play for the Sunbirds to get to their 79th consecutive GSAC win. Valladeres was quick to get the ball rolling for the Sunbirds as she came through with a 6-0, 6-2 win.
Boura followed this up in the number two position winning 6-2, 6-1 against Litchfield. The Sea Lions hit back with a win at number six as McFeeters was beaten 6-3, 6-3. Januskova clinched the much-needed win over the Sea Lions by a score of 6-3, 6-3 at number five.
Justin came through a tightly contested affair which saw her emerge the victor 6.3 7.6. The last match of the day to finish was a dead rubber between the #1 ranked player in the country, Strimple, and Celma at number one singles. This was a rematch of the fall ITA regional final, and again Strimple of PLNU was able to take the win. However Celma did not go down without a fight, losing the first set 6-4 and pushing the NAIA national champion all the way to a tie-break in the second set before losing it 7-5.
“To beat our biggest conference rivals 6-3 is a great result for us," said coach Neil Castro. "I think we had chances even in the matches we lost so we can take a lot of positives from today's performance”
The Sunbirds will return to the court on Saturday at home to take on The Masters in more GSAC action.
#1 Fresno Pacific 6, #3 Point Loma Nazarene 3
Singles competition
1. STRIMPLE, Kristin (PLNU) def. CELMA, Sara (FPU) 6-4, 7-6
2. BOURA, Marie (FPU) def. LITCHFIELD, Ashley (PLNU) 6-2, 6-1
3. VALLADERES, Cristina (FPU) def. KWAN, Jessica (PLNU) 6-0, 6-2
4. JUSTIN, Yumiko (FPU) def. ADAIR, Maika (PLNU) 6-3, 7-6
5. JANUSKOVA, Erika (FPU) def. OWENS, Rachel (PLNU) 6-3, 6-3
6. CHIU, Wileen (PLNU) def. McFEETERS, Elizabeth (FPU) 6-3, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. STRIMPLE, Kristin/LITCHFIELD, Ashley (PLNU) def. BOURA, Marie/JANUSKOVA, Erika (FPU) 8-6
2. VALLADERES, Cristina/JUSTIN, Yumiko (FPU) def. OWENS, Rachel/KWAN, Jessica (PLNU) 8-2
3. CELMA, Sara/McFEETERS, Elizabeth (FPU) def. STEINHAUER, Kiersten/CHIU, Wileen (PLNU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Point Loma Nazarene 11-1, 7-1 GSAC; National ranking #3
Fresno Pacific 11-4, 9-0 GSAC; National ranking #1
Fresno Pacific has now won 79 GSAC matches in a row
