CSUN women’s tennis got a much-needed victory over the Aggies of UC Davis Friday, shutting them out 7-0 at the Northridge Tennis Complex.

The Matadors improved their record to 8-12 (3-5 in conference play) with only one match remaining in the regular season before the Big West Tournament begins at Indian Wells, in early May.

Friday’s exceptionally windy afternoon started with Matador victories in each of the three doubles matches (8-4, 9-8, 8-1), giving the CSUN ladies the early point for a 1-0 lead.

At several key moments throughout the matches, the Matadors demonstrated a great deal of focus as several points lasted for long and tiring amounts of time.

Shortly after the doubles ended, the singles matches got underway. The feature match pitted No. 1 seeded Matador, Gutierrez against Ally Muller, the No.1 seed for UC Davis.

Gutierrez, who appeared to be the aggressor of the two ladies, took the first set easily, winning 6-2. The second set, however, was a different story. Muller jumped out to an early 5-2 lead and was just one game away from the taking the set.

Gutierrez then demonstrated why she is top seeded, winning the next three games and squaring the second set at five apiece.

With the Aggies now against the ropes, Gutierrez fought through some lengthy points, gained momentum that led her to a 7-5 victory and the final point needed to solidify the Matador shutout.

In the other matches, Canna Furuta played well, defeating Robin Guier 6-4 and 6-2. Kanykey Koichumanova was victorious 6-3, 6-0, YuYu Myinttun won 6-4, 6-0, Kasia Krasinska won 6-3, 6-2 and Yasuyo Hashimoto also defeated her opponent 6-2, 6-2 as the Matadors were able to win all eight match points in dominating fashion.

Head Coach Gary Victor was very happy to see his team dominate the Aggies, especially after last week’s tough loss to the Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara.

“It is a step in the right direction,” Victor said.

Gutierrez credited her conditioning as the difference maker in her singles match victory over Muller.

The Matadors have one regular season game remaining against Loyola Marymount this Thursday at home before heading south to Indian Wells for the Big West Tournament.

Victor accredited conditioning as an important factor for the team’s success.

“We will need to be in good shape (because) it can get really hot down there,” Victor said.

As a matter of fact Indian Wells averages over 94 degrees in the month of May with nearly no precipitation.

“(The ladies will be doing) quite a bit of running over the next week,” he said. “With all of the matches, the one thing we haven’t spent enough time on is our conditioning.”

When asked which team CSUN would least like to face when the tournament begins, Gutierrez and Canna Furuta both agreed that they would rather not have to face UC Santa Barbara, the team that has caused the Matadors a lot of trouble in the past.