Huskies Battle to 4-2 Win Over Colorado

Sunday, March 8

Seattle, WA

11:00 AM

University of Washington

Colorado

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

March 08, 2020 | Women's Tennis

Box Score

SEATTLE --- Washington had to battle to remain perfect in Pac-12 play, but gutted out a 4-2 victory over a tough Colorado team on Sunday afternoon at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.

The Huskies improve to 11-3 on the season and to 2-0 in conference, winning their third-straight match and sixth in their seventh in their last eight overall.

"I thought we played a strong doubles point and it got us off to a good start, said UW Head Coach Robin Stephenson. "Then, I think mentally, we weren't at our best today. I think we were dealing with a few physical things I think affected us a little bit. But I was pround of how we finished off that match and battled to get the win."

Washington got off to a strong start in doubles with a pair of quick wins. Zoey Weil and Sedona Gallagher cruised to a 6-2 victory at No. 3 doubles and the new tandem of Nika Zupancic and Delara Zamani clinched the victory with a 6-4 win at No. 2. Zamani was playing in her first collegiate Pac-12 match and earned her first Pac-12 win.

The Huskies would quickly go up 3-0 in singles play as the top of the lineup continued to dominate. At No. 1, Vanessa Wong--ranked No. 75 in the latest ITA rankings--won easily by scores of 6-1, 6-2. Natsuho Arakawa remained undefeated in singles play in the spring with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 2.

But Colorado bounced back with wins at No. 6 and No. 4 to make it 3-2, leaving the match to be decided at No. 3 and No. 5. On court three, Gallagher won the first set and had a pair of match points in the second, but lost a tiebreaker in that set and had to go to a third. On five, Zupancic lost her first set 6-2, but rallied back to win the second 6-4 and force a third. With both leading in the third it was Zupancic who clinched the match with a 6-2 victory on five.

"This wasn't like the best match that we have played in the last couple of months, but we played with a lot of heart and sometimes when things don't go right you just have to fight through," said Zupancic."I think this was a big win for the team because it showed us how much we are capable to do even when we aren't playing the best tennis."

The Huskies return to action on Saturday, March 14, hosting a big non-conference match against No. 27 Baylor at 3:00 p.m.