No. 60 UC Irvine
No. 47 Mustangs Clinch No. 2 Seed for Big West Tournament
4/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BOX SCORE
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The 47th-ranked Cal Poly women's tennis program dropped just two singles sets on Saturday afternoon as the program clinched the second seed for the April 28-May 1 Big West Tournament and closed the home portion of its 2011 spring schedule with a 6-1 thrashing of No. 60 UC Irvine on Mustang Courts.
Cal Poly (15-5, 7-1), which improved to 6-5 against ranked opposition this spring, opened play by dropping the doubles point for just the fifth time this spring. Senior Amy Markhoff (above) and sophomore Alexa Lee opened play at No. 1 with an 8-5 victory against UC Irvine's Hannah Holladay and Becka Kwan. At No. 2, Mustang senior Ashley Pane and junior Jocelyn Davis dropped an 8-4 decision versus Courtney Byron and Kristina Smith before UC Irvine's Franziska Goettsching and Miranda Young edged Cal Poly's freshman tandem of Florence Lehane and Gabrielle Gatewood at No. 3, 9-8.
Lee returned in singles play to deal Byron a 6-1, 6-1 defeat at No. 1 before Pane – honored alongside Markhoff following the match for their contributions to the program – produced a 6-0, 6-1 victory versus Kwan at No. 2. Lehane rallied to top Smith at No. 3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, ahead of Mustang freshman Jennifer Cornea, who whitewashed Goettsching at No. 4, 6-0, 6-1. Davis finalized a 6-4, 6-3 triumph versus UC Irvine's Brooke Schweyer at No. 5 before Mustang freshman Kathryn Webb capped Cal Poly's triumph at No. 6 by downing Holladay, 2-6, 6-2, 3-3 (10-8).
"I'm super proud of our attention and effort today. We came out really focused and determined in singles and even though UC Irvine is a good team, I felt our level of play and energy was amazing," 11th-year Cal Poly head coach Hugh Bream said.
Cal Poly completes the regular season at No. 75 Fresno State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
