SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's tennis beat Portland, 4-3, in a thrilling West Coast Conference match on a sunny Friday afternoon at the Degheri Tennis Center.
The outcome hinged on the third set of the match between Santa Clara freshman
Katya Tabachnik and Portland's Emily Soares on court No. 5. Tabachnik lost the first set but battled back to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the match for the Broncos (7-6, 2-1 WCC).
Playing on court No. 4, Gevargiz defeated Raphaelle Leblanc 6-4, 6-2 to even the match at 1-1.
The Bronco fell behind 2-1 when
Madison Clarke was forced to retire on court No. 1 against Jelena Lukic.
Zeina El Tawil's straight sets win on court No. 3 over Ramalle Lourdes made the match all square at 2-2.
Maddie Pothoff put Santa Clara up 3-2 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Radina Dimitrova on court No.2, extending her singles win streak to 10 matches.
The Broncos had two opportunities to close the match but Portland's Anna Oberg beat
Giannina Ong in three sets 7-6, 2-6, 6-1 on court No. 6 to extend it to the deciding match on court No. 5 between Tabachnik and Soares.
Santa Clara will have a quick turnaround, hosting West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga on Saturday at 10 a.m. PT.