TUCSON, Ariz. – For the third-straight Pac-12 match, Washington State Tennis drew close but could not find the clinching match as the Cougars dropped a 5-2 decision at No. 43 Arizona Saturday at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
Trailing 3-2, WSU (10-8, 1-6 Pac-12) needed both remaining for victory. At No. 2, Elyse Tse was down 2-0 in the third set to Kayla Wilkins while Fifa Kumhom at No. 4 trailing 5-1 in the third against Midori Castillo-Meza. Kumhom reeled off five-straight games to take a 6-5 lead at the same time Tse held a 5-4 lead after winning five of the next seven games.
The Cougars drew no closer as Kumhom went to a tiebreaker in the third set before falling 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) while Tse could not hold the lead and dropped a 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 contest, giving Arizona the final margin of victory.
The day began with doubles and the Cougars jumped out to the 1-0 lead with wins at the top two spots. It was Arizona, however, that struck first as Teja Tirunelveli and Kayla Wilkins posted a 6-1 win over Hannia Abouelsaad and Tiffany Phout at No. 3. At No. 2, WSU’s Yura Nakagawa and Kumhom cruised to a 6-1 victory over Belen Nevenhoven and Martyna Ostrzygalo, sending the deciding match to Court 1. WSU’s No. 1 duo of Eva Alvarez Sande and Tse used a late break of serve to defeat Reece Carter and Brandelyn Fulgenzi, 6-4, securing the opening point.
In singles action, the Wildcats took a 2-1 lead as Tanvi Narendran defeated Phout 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 while Fulgenzi got past Abouelsaad, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 5.
WSU evened the match at 2-2 when Nakagawa…
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