Daily Sundial
Even though the Cal State Northridge women’s tennis team beat St. Mary’s 6-1 at the Northridge Tennis Complex on Feb. 2, it was not as easy as the final score would indicate.
“We wanted to win very badly after losing to Cal Poly the way we did,” Victor said. “We knew that we were better than that and this was a great opportunity to show that against a good team.”
Bouncing back from their 4-3 loss to the Cal Poly Mustangs on Jan. 27, the Matadors struck St. Mary’s with an array of close singles victories, giving CSUN the overall win.
Head coach Gary Victor said his team was ready and showed why the Matadors are a force to be reckoned with in the Big West Conference.
The Matadors had not lost he doubles play point the first two matches of the season, ths match would not be any different.
Although CSUN’s No. 1 doubles team of junior Sylvia Gutierrez and senior YuYu Myinntun lost 6-8 to St. Mary’s Aude Lambert and Jessica Hoath, there was no let down by the team.
The duo of sophomore Kanykey Koichumanova and sophomore Canna Furuta won their match 8-6 over Stef Ordoveza and Erin Young.
CSUN’s No. 3 doubles team of sophomore Ana Matijasevic and junior Olga Yepremian also won 8-3, giving the Matadors the doubles point.
Furuta won the first singles game, beating Young in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-3, giving CSUN a 2-0 overall advantage.
Junior Sonya Kumar came back from early deficit, defeating Kristen Kummer 6-3, 7-5.
“The first set I was down 0-3 because it took me a while to get used to (Kummer’s) game,” Kumar said. “It was windy as well, so I stayed patient and tried not to make any unforced errors.”
Kumar gave the Matadors their third win, leaving CSUN needing one more victory to get the overall win.
The clincher came from the racket of sophomore Ana Matijasevic who dug herself a hole after she lost the first set 2-6 against Kate Harden. Matijasevic won the second set 7-6 (10-8) and the final set 11-7, givng CSUN the overall win.
“Anna (Matijasevic) definitely showed a ton of character,” Victor said. “This 6-1 victory is not really a score that would tell the true story of this match, it could have easily been 4-3 either way.”
A controversial call in the second set hit by Gutierrez was called out by her opponent. Although Gutierrez disagreed, the point went to Lambert. Gutierrez, however, showed how patience on the tennis court can pays off as she defeated Aude Lambert ? 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4) to add to the victory.
“It’s something that happens when you play,” Gutierrez said, referring to the controversial call.
Gutierrez also said that the tennis team has room for improvement, even with a 6-1 win.
Koichumanova fought hard against Hoath but ended up with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) defeat, the only Matador loss.
Victor said he was very proud of Koichumanova because she did not give the match away and collapse when the pressure was on.
“That’s something that last year’s team did a little bit more of,” Coach Victor said. “This year’s team is showing the ability to fight all the way through.”
The Matadors return to action next against Big West rival Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 7 in Orange County.
CSUN’s next home match will be on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. against Long Beach state.
Arthur Vong can be reached at sports_sundial@csun.edu.
