It didn’t look good for the CSUN women’s tennis team when Junior Ana Matijasevic fell to the court in pain during her singles match at the Northridge Tennis Complex on Sunday.
The Matadors needed Matijasevic to win her match against University of the Pacific’s Carla Tamborini in order to get the overall win, but Matijasevic was already down a set and 4-1 in the second set when her ankle turned and her calf pulled, sending her to the court surface.
After an injury timeout and consultation with the trainers, Matijasevic got up and although she lost that game, she came back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, giving CSUN the 4-3 win.
“I wasn’t sure if she could still play,” head coach Gary Victor said. “But, I felt confident that she would win, once she got up,” he said.
Knowing that her match was the decisive one, Matijasevic said she had no intention of losing it.
“I knew I had to bring everything I had,” Matijasevic said.
CSUN won the doubles point with a new pairing of teams. Senior Silvia Gutierrez teamed up with junior Kanykey Koichumanova to win their match against Jolanta Twarowska and Sasha Fisher 8-5.
Gutierrez, previously teamed with Matijasevic, said she was happy that the team won the doubles point.
“If it is working for the team, then it’s good,” Gutierrez said.
Junior Canna Furuta and freshman Kristy Fournell won their doubles match 8-3 against Helen Schneider and Carla Tamborini. Matijasevic and senior Kasia Krasinska were defeated by Pacific’s team of Vana Mrazovic and Svenja Arens 9-7 in a match that lasted two hours.
Koichumanova has stretched her singles winning streak to eight after defeating Jolanta Twarowska in the #2 singles match. Koichumanova won the match easily at 6-2, 6-2. Gutierrez won at the #1 spot against Vana Mrazovic, 7-6 (5), 7-5. Gutierrez had been down and struggled to get back into the match.
Gutierrez said that despite being down in the match, she found herself able to concentrate on playing better.
“I’m thrilled to see her play at this level,” Victor said. “I’m very proud of Silvia and her mental toughness,” he said.
In other singles matches, Furuta lost a close match to Svenja Arens 6-4, 7-5. Pacific’s Helen Schneider defeated Krasinska 6-2, 6-3 and CSUN senior Sonya Kumar lost 6-2, 6-2 to Sasha Fisher.
Victor said his team is a bit banged up this year, but showed great leadership against Pacific.
“I’m thrilled with the team’s performance,” he said.
The next match for the team is on April 3 in San Luis Obispo against Cal Poly.
