CSUN Falls to UC Davis in Big West Quarterfinals

SAN DIEGO, Calif.---Second-seeded CSUN fell by a 4-0 score to seventh-seeded UC Davis in the quarterfinals of the Big West Championship on Thursday afternoon at Barnes Tennis Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Aggies took control at the start, winning back-to-back matches to earn the doubles point. At No. 1, Mika Ikemori and Arianna Stavropoulos defeated Sasha Turchak and Yuliia Zhytelna 6-4 while the tandem of Daisy Maunupau and Olive Maunupau collected a 6-2 victory over Victoria Santibañez Luna and Cindy Ung 6-2. In an unfinished match, Carly Schwartzberg and Michelle Zell led Elena Goodman and Angela Ho by a 5-3 score before it was called.

UC Davis continued its hot play into singles completion where Ikemori claimed a straight set win over Zhytelna 6-2, 7-5. The next five singles matches would go into a third set, but the Aggies prevailed in two of them to claim the match. At No. 6, Goodman fought back from a first set loss to send her match to a third set, but Olive Maunupau pulled out a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 decision. Emma Moratalla Sanz would win her first set before Zell rallied to win 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In the three remaining unfinished singles matches, CSUN held leads in two of them in the third set. At No. 1, Turchak was ahead of Stavropoulos 3-6, 7-5, 4-3 while Ho led Schwartzberg 7-5, 5-7, 2-1 at No. 5. Santibañez Luna was trailing Kaia Wolfe by a slim margin at 6-4, 4-6, 1-2 before the match was called.

NOTES OF THE MATCH

CSUN falls to 13-7 overall while UC Davis improves to 12-12.
The Aggies will play the winner of Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals of the Big West Championship on Friday.
Despite a first round loss in The Big West Championship, the Matadors had one of their best seasons in their team history in The Big West. CSUN finished second in the conference this season and posted their best league win percentage (.778) in program history since joining The Big West.
Turchak wraps up her career with 31 singles and 38 doubles wins in four seasons with the Matadors to go with All-Conference accolades as both a singles and doubles player.

ACCORDING TO COACH GARY VICTOR
"Davis peaked at the right time at the end of the season, credit to them. We had five three-setters today, and despite the slow starts we had a chance.

"Our trainer, Habib [Toubedjian] did an amazing job of holding us together all season and for some reason our bodies just broke down at the end. Today does not take away from the incredible season we have had. Sasha is an all-timer and it's been a privilege for our staff to have her heart and soul with us for four years."

#GoMatadors

CSUN Falls to UC Davis in Big West Quarterfinals

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Elena Goodman

Angela Ho

Emma Moratalla Sanz

Sasha Turchak

Cindy Ung