University of Washington
Saint Mary's
Huskies Can't Put Away Gaels, Fall 5-2
February 26, 2012 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 26, 2012
SEATTLE - Chalk it up to a painful freshman learning experience, as the Husky women's tennis team was in position for a victory over 34th-ranked St. Mary's today, but let the Gaels stick around and eventually rally for a 5-2 victory at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Trailing 1-3, the Huskies (6-3) needed a trio of freshmen to pull through with victories. The freshmen have contributed a great deal this season, and all three were serving for straight set wins, but all three wound up going into third sets. Only freshman Julija Lukac bounced back to win in three, as St. Mary's swung the match on the other two.
At No. 4 singles, freshman Capucine Gregoire won the first set over Anna Chkhikvishvili, 7-5, and served for the match at 5-4 and again at 6-5 in the second set. But she was unable to close it out, and Chkhikvishvili won a tiebreak, 7-3, to force a third set which she ran away with, 6-0. That snapped a six-match win streak for Gregoire and it clinched the match for the Gaels. The story was similar at No. 5, where freshman Riko Shimizu led 7-6, 5-3 over Catherine Leduc, but couldn't hold on and lost the second set, 5-7, and the third set, 3-6.
Lukac, was up at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 5-3 over Carla Lindlar, but Lindlar came back to win the second set in a tiebreak. However it was Lukac that jumped back out to a 4-0 third set lead and she held on for a 6-2 win.
The only other point on the day came from 18th-ranked senior Denise Dy, who beat her second ranked opponent of the weekend, this time without dropping a single game. She hammered 103rd-ranked Catherine Isip, 6-0, 6-0.
St. Mary's got the win at No. 2 singles, as 83rd-ranked Jenny Jullien defeated Samantha Smith, 6-1, 6-2. Sophomore Andjela Nemcevic also had a rough end to her personal six-match win streak, falling to Jade Frampton, 7-5, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Nemcevic led, 5-2, in the first set before dropping six games in a row.
UW got off to a nice start in doubles but couldn't maintain it on the second and third courts. At No. 1 doubles, Dy and Smith took a 4-0 lead en route to an 8-4 win over Isip and Searl. At No. 2, Gregoire and Nemcevic took a 4-2 lead over Jullien and Leduc, but things fell apart in a hurry as they lost six straight games to fall, 8-4. Third doubles clinched it, as SMC's Lindlar and Frampton pulled away for an 8-4 win over Shimizu and Lukac.
Washington will now head into Pac-12 play with the task of facing No. 1-ranked Stanford next Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m. at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.
Washington Women's Tennis
Nordstrom Tennis Center - Seattle, Wash.
February 26, 2012
No. 34 St. Mary's 5, No. 29 Washington 2
Doubles
2) Jullien/Leduc (SMC) def. Nemcevic/Gregoire (UW), 8-4
3) Lindlar/Frampton (SMC) def. Lukac/Shimizu (UW), 8-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1) (18) Denise Dy (UW) def. (106) Catherine Isip (SMC), 6-0, 6-0
2) (83) Jenny Jullien (SMC) def. Samantha Smith (UW), 6-1, 6-2
3) Jade Frampton (SMC) def. Andjela Nemcevic (UW), 7-5, 6-3
4) Anna Chkhikvishvili (SMC) def. Capucine Gregoire (UW), 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0
5) Catherine Leduc (SMC) def. Riko Shimizu (UW), 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3
6) Julija Lukac (UW) def. Carla Lindlar (SMC), 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5
