FRESNO, Calif. – In their second match of the day, the Wyoming tennis team had their season ended with a 4-1 loss to the top-seeded Fresno State Bulldogs in the semifinals of the 2014 MW Tennis Championships on Saturday. 

Fresno State took the early lead to begin the match as they took two out of three doubles matches. Sophie Watts and Anneka Watts won the first match of the day over Veronica Popovici and Dorottya Jonas, 8-2. The Bulldogs clinched the point as Aishwarya Agrawal and Sofya Malysheva earned an 8-4 victory against Alma Espinosa and Christa Gecheva. The number three team of Alena Vasileva and Silviya Zhelyazkova were the only team to earn a win as they defeated Tanya Murtagh and Anne Susdorf, 8-5.

 In singles action, the Bulldogs won three out of the next four matches to come away with the victory. Sophie Watts defeated Popovici, 6-2, 6-1. Gecheva beat Sofya Malysheva in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to give the Cowgirls their first point of the match. At the number six spot, Susdorf earned a 6-4, 6-2 win against Espinosa, while Fresno State wrapped up the match with Agrawal beating Zhelyazkova, 7-6, 6-2.

Wyoming closes out the season 11-8 overall and 4-1 in Mountain West play.

Tennis Match Results

(1) Fresno State 4, (5) Wyoming 1

 Singles

1. Sophie Watts (FSU) def. Veronica Popovici (WY), 6-2, 6-1

2. Rana Sherif Ahmed (FSU) vs. Dorottya Jonas (WY), 1-6, 6-1, 3-0 DNF

3. Aishwarya Agrawal (FSU) def. Silviya Zhelyazkova (WY), 7-6, 6-2

4. Christa Gecheva (WY) def. Sofya Malysheva (FSU), 6-3, 6-3

5. Anneka Watts (FSU) vs. Alena Vasileva (WY), 6-1, 6-5 DNF

6. Anne Susdorf (FSU) def. Alma Espinosa (WY), 6-4, 6-2

 Doubles

1. S. Watts/A. Watts (FSU) def. Popovici/Jonas (WY), 8-2

2. Agrawal/Malysheva (FSU) def. Gecheva/Espinosa (WY), 8-4

3. Vasileva/Zhelyazkova (WY) def. Murtagh/Susdorf (FSU), 8-5

Boise State

In their opening quarterfinal match of the 2014 MW Tennis Championships, the fifth seeded Wyoming Tennis team took it down to the wire to earn a 4-3 victory over the fourth seeded Boise State Broncos. It’s the fourth year in a row that the Cowgirls are advancing to the semifinals of the tournament.

“This was a battle just like we expected it to be,” said head coach Dean Clower. “We were down the entire match and the players kept grinding it out. In the end, it just came down to the team being flat out Cowgirl tough. Alma has earned the respect of not only myself and the team but the whole league for her resiliency. We will be ready to take on Fresno State later tonight and I can promise that this will be a battle.”

It was quite a battle in singles action as it came went down to the final match of the day to which team came away with the victory or force doubles action. Anissa Bryant-Swift defeated Dorottya Jonas, 6-4, 6-0, for the first point of the day for the Broncos followed by Veronica Popovici over Sandy Vo, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) to make it 1-1. It remained even through the next two matches with Teal Vosburgh earning a three-set win, 6-7 (5-7), 6-0, 0-6, over Silviya Zhelyazkova, while Alena Vasileva won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5, over Morgan Basil.

The Cowgirls showed some determination in the final two matches of the day. Christa Gecheva won the first set of the day, 6-4, against Megan LaLone, but came up short 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 in the final two sets. The final match-up was at the number six position with Alma Espinosa and Sammie Watson. Watson looked solid as she took set one, 6-0. Espinosa responded with a 7-6 (7-4) win in the second set. The third set tiebreaker saw the junior fall behind 4-1, but she would rally back and won six out of the next seven to pull out the third set, 7-5, to even up the match at three all.

Wyoming clinched the match with doubles wins at the number one and three spots in the line-up. Popovici and Jonas defeated LaLone and Vo, 8-3, while Vasileva and Zhelyazkova secured the match with an 8-5 victory over Basil and Watson.

Tennis Match Results

(5) Wyoming 4, (3) Boise State 3

Singles

1. Veronica Popovici (WY) def. Sandy Vo (BS), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)

2. Anissa Bryant-Swift (BS) def. Dorottya Jonas (WY), 6-4, 6-0

3. Teal Vosburgh (BS) def. Silviya Zhelyazkova (WY), 6-7 (7-5), 6-0, 0-6

4. Megan LaLone (BS) def. Christa Gecheva (WY), 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-2

5. Alena Vasileva (WY) def. Morgan Basil (BS), 6-4, 7-5

6. Alma Espinosa (WY) def. Sammie Watson (BS), 0-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5

Doubles

1. Popovici/Jonas (WY) def. Vo/LaLone (BS), 8-3

2. Bryant-Swift/Vosburgh (BS) def. Gecheva/Espinosa (WY), 8-4

3. Vasileva/Zhelyazkova (WY) def. Basil/Watson (BS), 8-5