San José State women's tennis (9-3, 1-1 MW) suffered its first home loss of the season at the Spartan Tennis Complex in a 4-3 defeat against the University of Hawai’i Rainbow Wahine (6-6, 4-0 BW). The Spartans won their doubles matchups 2-1 but dropped their single matchups 4-2 which ultimately cost them the game.
After losing the first round of doubles the Spartans won their next two rounds to gain the lead.The beaming sun was hitting the courts since the game started in the afternoon but this didn't have any effect on the game according to SJSU head coach Chad Skorupka.
“It was a nice day today. We just needed some focus and concentration here and there and it could have gone another way,” Skorupka said. Irena Muradyn, senior and reigning Mountain West player of the week, paired with freshman Cheuk Ying Shek for the first win. With the score tied at 1-1, reigning freshman of the week Duru Durgun and senior Rozalina Youseva won their match in a dominating 6-2 win after building up a 3-0 lead to start their match.
The pair of Durgun and Youseva are now on a five-match winning streak according to the SJSU athletics website. “We are completing each other well and managing our risky shots together,” Durgun said.
Following the double matchups the Spartans started off the singles 2-0 because of Youseva and Durgun winning their matches first and second respectively. Youseva won her rounds 6-1 and 6-2. “I was definitely very motivated since I didn't have a very good last two matches, so I was hungry to win,” Youseva said. “I think that was the fastest set I've ever played.”
SJSU head coach Chad Skorupka said he wasn’t surprised to see Youseva bounce back in her singles match. “She's been a competitor all five years here and she just gets it done,” Skorupka said.
After finishing second, Durgun joined her partner Youseva in watching the rest of the singles matchups. “Supporting each other during single matches goes a long way,” Durgun said. However, after gaining momentum and the lead, Shek and senior Jovana Babic dropped their matches.
Muradyn narrowly lost both of her sets 6-4 and 7-5, making her the fifth match to finish, before joining the rest of her team at the empty courts to watch the game deciding match.
Then the Rainbow Wahine tied the game at 3-3 with only the last singles match to come between senior Carolina Millan and Hawaii freshman Nelly Knezkova.
Millan won her first round 6-4 with only one more game to secure the team and singles win. Hawaii returned the favor, forcing the game to come down to the third round. All eyes were on Millan and Knezkova for the final bout as all the other matches had finished.
Millan fell behind 5-4 with the deciding point on the line and unfortunately hit it out of bounds to give Hawaii the win and snapping SJSU’s home winning streak. This was not a conference loss for the Spartans, but they will remain at home for their conference matchup against the University of New Mexico.
“We’re going to be very hungry,” Youseva said. “It's a conference match and we had a tough battle against them last year.” However Durgun said the team doesn't want to overlook this loss against the Rainbow Wahine and take what they learned from this defeat into the game against the Lobos.
“The first thing we have to do is play with no fear (and) remember this is our home match and we have to step up,” Durgun said.
SJSU is scheduled to take on University of New Mexico Friday at 11 a.m. at the Spartan Tennis Complex.
