CSUN Falls 4-3 To Cal State Fullerton In Big West Quarterfinals

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. --- The CSUN women's tennis team (9-12) nearly pulled off the only upset of the Big West Tournament Quarterfinals, but ultimately fell 4-3 to Cal State Fullerton Friday afternoon. In the final match of her CSUN career, senior Kristen Poei won in both singles and doubles while sophomore Skyla Alcon matched the feat and the Matadors won the opening point in doubles.

"James (assistant coach James Ciuffo) and I could not be more proud of the effort our ladies made today," said CSUN head coach Gary Victor. "Seven of our top eight players have battled injuries for extended periods of time and some were rarely able to practice. They played through pain this season as we fought through adversity to reach the 5 seed and put a scare into an 19-3 team. Winning the doubles point and then taking three second sets after losing the first speaks to the character of this team."

The fifth-seeded Matadors came out strong against the Titans, claiming the first two doubles matches to finish. Kiryang Kim and Poei posted a 6-3 victory in the No. 3 match and Alcon and Elisa Elhadj won 6-4 in the No. 2 draw to help CSUN take the early 1-0 advantage. Mickey Hsu and Vivian Lin were ahead 5-4 in their No. 1 doubles match when play was halted.

Although they did not play together in their final match, Hsu and Poei leave CSUN with a school-record 50 doubles victories. Alcon was 9-5 in doubles play as an individual in her sophomore season while Kim finished 8-5 overall in doubles play. A three-time All-Big West selection in doubles, Lin closed out her career with a 6-4 doubles record this season and 33 career victories.

After the Titans tied the match with a win in the second draw of singles competition, Poei posted a 6-4, 6-4 decision in the sixth draw to move CSUN ahead 2-1. Poei finished a team-best 12-4 in singles play in her final season at CSUN and recorded 46 career wins in singles.

Alcon overcame a first-set loss to win 3-6, 7-5 and 6-0 in the third singles match and finished the year 8-10 overall. That put the Matadors ahead 3-2, but the TItans tied the match with victories at No. 4 and No. 1

That set up the fifth match as the decisive contest and freshman Emma Roenholt nearly pulled it out for the Matadors. After falling in the first set 6-3, she rallied for a 6-4 victory in the second to force a third and final set. After falling behind 5-2, Roenholt won the next two games to draw to within 5-4 before ultimately falling 6-4. She ended her first year as a Matador with a 6-10 overall mark.

"Congratulations to Fullerton for the great year they have had and for pulling this tough match out," Victor said. "Give a lot of credit to Fullerton's Masako Makiba for winning the deciding match this year after falling in the deciding match at conference to us last year."

Despite a loss in singles play, Kim finished 8-7 overall on the year. Elhadj posted a 4-2 mark in her first season as a Matador and Hsu wrapped up a sensational career with a 6-8 mark. Over her four years, Hsu recorded 39 career victories in singles action.

"Mickey, Kristen, Vivian and Samantha Judan are high-character people and we are all better for having them with us for the past four years," Victor added. "Kristen became a strong and positive leader and had an outstanding season, including doubling today. We were happy to see Vivian smile throughout her last match and play so well. Sam pushed her teammates to be better in every way and Mickey is someone who is an incredible teammate, leader and student-athlete. We are excited to see them take those high levels of drive, character and integrity to do great things with their families and careers."

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Skyla Alcon

Elisa Elhadj

Mickey Hsu

Samantha Judan

Kiryang Kim

Vivian Lin

Kristen Poei

Emma Roenholt