CSUN Opens Big West Championships Thursday vs. UCSB

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR CSUN WOMEN'S TENNIS
DUAL 22
UC Santa Barbara (6-14, 6-3 Big West) at CSUN (16-5, 6-3 Big West)
Thursday, Apr. 27 • 9 a.m.
San Diego, Calif.• Barnes Tennis Center

In-game Twitter updates: @CSUNWTennis

FIRST SERVE
CSUN plays UC Santa Barbara for the second time in six days as the teams open The Big West Women's Tennis Championship in a Thursday morning quarterfinal at the Barnes Tennis Center. The first serve is 9 a.m., with Track Tennis streaming the dual. All links are available on GoMatadors.com.

A GREAT SEASON
Last Friday, the Matadors posted their 16th dual victory against UCSB. The 16 wins are the most since 2011 when CSUN went 16-6. CSUN ended 2023 with a 6-3 league record, the most victories for the Matadors in Big West play since 2008 when CSUN went 6-2 in conference play.

CSUN tied for second in the Big West with four other teams, marking the Matadors' best finish since 2015, when the Matadors tied for fourth.

ABOUT THE BIG WEST WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Regular season champion Hawai'i is the No. 1 seed. The Rainbow Wahine (11-7) is ranked No. 67 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings and went 8-1 in conference play.

Cal Poly (12-8), Cal State Fullerton (14-7), CSUN (16-5), Long Beach State (10-9), and UC Santa Barbara (6-14) finished in a five-way tie for second place in the league standings with a 6-3 league record. The Mustangs separated themselves from the group in a tiebreaker that came down to match points scored versus the four teams to earn the No. 2 seed.

The Gauchos and Beach separated themselves based on head-to-head records between the remaining teams. With a 4-3 win in the regular season matchup, UC Santa Barbara earns the No. 3 seed, and Long Beach State is the No. 4 seed. The Titans are the No. 5 seed, and the Matadors will be the No. 6 seed after a 4-3 regular season result favoring Cal State Fullerton.

UC Davis (8-13, 3-6 Big West) will be the No. 7 seed. The championship will open with a play-in matchup between No. 8 seed UC Irvine (10-8, 2-7 Big West) and No. 9 seed UC Riverside (2-14, 0-9 Big West) Wednesday, Apr. 26 at noon PT.

Thursday's morning session begins at 9 a.m. with CSUN facing UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly UC Davis. Thursday's other afternoon dual sees Long Beach State Cal State Fullerton.

The Cal Poly-UC Davis winner plays the winner of CSUN-UCSB winner in one semifinal on Friday at Noon. The Hawai'i-UCI/UCR winner plays the winner of Long Beach State-Cal State Fullerton at Noon on Friday. The championship is on Saturday at Noon.

TEAM LEADERS
Yuliia Zhytelna has recorded a team-high 15 singles victories (15-4). Emma Moratalla Sanz is second on the team with 13 singles wins (13-6). Angela Ho and Sasha Turchak have 12 singles victories, while Tallia Harper has won 10 times in singles action.

Zhytelna and Turchak have played together in 20 matches this season, posting a 13-7 record. Ho is 13-4 in doubles action. Playing with Ho, Jolene Coetzee is 11-4 in doubles play this season.

LAST WEEK
CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara for the first time since 2012. The Matadors wrapped up the 2023 women's tennis regular season with a 5-2 Big West win over the Gauchos Friday afternoon at the Matador Tennis Complex.

The CSUN victory broke a 12-dual losing streak to UCSB that dated back to Jan. 29, 2012, when the Matadors defeated the Gauchos 5-2 at the ITA Kickoff in Coral Gables, Fla. Friday's win was the first for CSUN at home against UC Santa Barbara on Apr. 5, 2007, in a 5-2 decision.

Vitoria Solis Urdiales and Cindy Ung's 6-1 victory at No. 3 against Valentina Krebtova and Solaya Han opened the doubles competition. Then, UCSB's Amelia Honer and Kira Reuter, ranked 12th in the current ITA poll, defeated Jolene Coetzee and Angela Ho 6-1 at No. 1 to tie it
up. Finally, Sasha Turchak and Yuliia Zhytelna earned the doubles point for the Matadors when the CSUN duo defeated Marta Gonzalez and Camille Kiss 6-3 at No. 2.

Tallia Harper shut out Han 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 to open singles action. Honer, ranked 60th in the current ITA Top 75, handed Coetzee a 6-4, 6-2 defeat in No. 1 play. Ho earned a straight sets victory at No. 5 (6-4, 6-2) versus Gonzalez, which set the stage for Emma Moratalla Sanz to clinch the dual for the Matadors when she posted a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Khrebtova in the No. 4 slot.

Zhytelna led 7-5 and was tied 3-3 against Reuter at No. 3 before Reuter retired. Kiss's 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) win at No. 2 concluded the day.

~#UniteTheValley~

CSUN Opens Big West Championships Thursday vs. UCSB

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Players Mentioned

Jolene Coetzee

Tallia Harper

Angela Ho

Emma Moratalla Sanz

Vitoria Solis Urdiales

Sasha Turchak

Cindy Ung

Yuliia Zhytelna