PULLMAN, Wash. – After dropping the opening doubles point, the Cougars captured five singles matches as Washington State Tennis defeated Idaho, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse.
In doubles action, the Cougar duo of Eva Alvarez Sande and Elyse Tse jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Court 1 over Annabel Davis and Ida Johansson before closing out a 6-2 victory. On Court 3, Idaho’s Lena Beckx and Rachelle Starreveld captured a late break of serve to close out a 7-5 win over Hania Abouelsaad and Martina Markov, pushing the deciding match to Court 2. There, Idaho’s Valentina Rodas and Naomi Schraeder rallied from down 2-5 and saved three match points before escaping with a 7-6 (10-8) win over WSU’s Yura Nakagawa and Fifa Kumhom.
In singles play, Alvarez Sande evened the score at 1-1 as she cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Davis at No. 1. Nakagawa followed with a solid, 6-4, 6-3 win over Rodas before Kumhom made it a 3-1 lead for WSU as she completed a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 3 over Selin Sepken.
The clinching point came at No. 4 where Tse outslugged Diana Khaydarshina, 6-3, 6-4, to secure WSU’s team victory. After a blistering first set, Markov cooled but pulled out a 6-0, 7-6 (3) win at No. 5 to push WSU’s lead to 5-1. The final match of the afternoon saw Idaho’s Schreader outlast Abouelsaad in a three-set match, 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5).
The Cougars begin a five-match stretch away from Pullman when they face Idaho State, Friday, Jan. 26 in Boise, Idaho.
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
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