GLENDALE, AZ – BYU-Hawaii (26-0) and Hawai'i Pacific (18-2) will meet again on Saturday to decide the 2010 Hawaiian Airlines Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Championship.
The two squads will collide again at the Paseo Racquet Club in Glendale, AZ, at 11 a.m. PDT after each team claimed their semifinal bouts in 5-0 sweeps on Friday.
Reigning conference champion BYU-Hawaii, the number one seed in the tournament, defeated #5 Dixie State 5-0 after taking all three doubles matches and earning victories at the first two singles slots.
Sophomore Yuan Jia (China) and junior Hewenfei (Elwen) Li (China) teamed up for another 8-0 win at first doubles, then earned individual victories by claiming first and second singles, respectively. Jia captured first singles 6-0, 6-0 and Li won second singles 6-1, 6-0.
Junior Salina Aranda (Kirksville, TX/Kirksville) teamed up with senior Seulki (Jenny) Chin (South Korea) for an 8-1 win at second doubles, while junior Ayako Ikeda (Japan) and sophomore Shawni Porter (Mesa, AZ/Mountain View) earned another easy victory at third doubles by the score of 8-0.
Hawai'i Pacific - the #2 seed - meshed wins at fourth and sixth singles with a 3-0 sweep at doubles to beat #3 Chaminade 5-0 and advance to the title match vs. the Seasiders.
Sophomore Zora Vlckova (Czech Republic) and senior Ingrid Cseh (Romania) were 8-6 winners at first doubles in a close match, while juniors Aleksandra Stankovic (Sweden) and Sandra Wikstrom (Sweden) claimed second doubles by a relatively easy score of 8-0. Senior Tinka Mihonva (Bulgaria) and junior Nina Mihova (Bulgaria) collected third doubles 8-0.
Chaminade (10-10) and Dixie State (8-9) will battle for third place on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Glendale, while at 2 p.m. #4 Grand Canyon (13-12) will face #7 Academy of Art (9-13) in the battle for fifth. The seventh-place match also will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday and will feature #8 Dominican (3-13) and #6 Hawai'i Hilo (2-21).
Grand Canyon earned a trip to the fifth-place contest by sweeping Dominican 5-0. Junior Ali Brackey (Sahuarita, AZ/Sahuarita) swept sixth singles 6-0, 6-0 after teaming up with senior Mandy Prudhomme (Glendale, AZ/Deer Valley) for an 8-0 third doubles triumph.
Prudhomme, who will graduate in a few weeks, is a mother of three who owns her own business and is the wife of head coach Greg Prudhomme. She claimed fifth singles 6-1, 6-0 to help close out the win.
Grand Canyon juniors Cecilia Vergnet (France) and Stephanie Haldeman (Peoria, AZ/Centennial) earned an 8-0 win at first doubles, while freshman Kaila Knopf (Phoenix, AZ/Pinnacle) and junior Stefanie Griffin (Scottsdale, AZ/Pinnacle) ousted their opponents 8-0 at second doubles.
The match of the day belonged to Academy of Art and Hawai'i Hilo. AAU junior Laone Botshoma (Botswana) defeated Vulcan senior Justine Abella (Cerritos, CA/St. Joseph) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 at second singles to give the Urban Knights a 5-4 win and their first post-season victory in school history.
Academy of Art captured a pair of doubles matches thanks to sophomore Paola Correa Fe (Mexico) and senior Anna Ritchie (Rochester, MN/John Marshall) taking second doubles 9-7, and sophomores Cecilia Hedin (Sweden) and Maria Tenorio (Ecuador) claiming third doubles 8-6.
Ritchie and Tenorio were double-winners after each player earned a crucial singles victory. Ritchie took fifth singles 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, while Tenorio earned a 6-0, 6-2 sweep at fourth singles.
The Vulcans rallied thanks to senior Christie Pagatpatan (Waipahu, HI/Waipahu) who won a thrilling first singles match 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, and freshman Anna Hamlin (Sweden) who corralled a 6-1, 6-2 victory at third singles. The duo teamed up for an 8-2 victory at first doubles.
Vulcan junior Kaylene Peric (Midland, NI/Dow) rounded out UHH's wins with a 6-0, 6-1 triumph at sixth singles.
Members of the media, as well as fans of the PacWest and its member institutions, can follow the results of the Pacific West Conference Women's Tennis Championships at www.pacificwestsports.org. Check out complete tennis statistics and box scores on the PacWest Women's Tennis website at: http://www.pacificwestsports.org/sports/wten/2009-10/stats/confstat.htm.
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