San Diego State women’s tennis took care of business against the Grand Canyon Lopes, winning 4 -0 as the team closed out the regular season, finishing with an 18-3 record (10-1 Mountain West).
Seniors Gloria Alogo, Jo-Yee Chan and Ninon Martinache were all honored prior to the matches by head coach Nicolas Vinel, assistant coach Dylan Parsley and their families.
“It’s a special day today to recognize them for what they’ve done to raise the standard of the program, and we wouldn’t be here without those three,” Vinel said. “I’m very excited and sad at the same time to send them off, but I am so proud.”
The Aztecs took two out of three from the Lopes in doubles matches, with Chan and Vessa Turley defeating GCU’s Bella Crossman and Dania Deaifi 6-2 on court one. On court two, Jayna Clemens and Ninon Martinache defeated Gala Arangio and Karina Hofbauer 6-4. While at court three, Gloria Alogo and Liisa Varul DNF 5-5 against Amalia Suciu and Hams Metwally.
“We’ve talked all year about resilience, fighting spirit, and that’s really what it was today,” Vinel said. “We were up on some of them, we were down on some, but we kept pushing and fighting.”
With a 1-0 lead after doubles, the Aztecs went to singles play, where their elite play didn’t waver as the Aztecs got wins on courts five, six and one to seal the victory over GCU.
At five, Teja Tirunelveli defeated Dania Deaifi 6-0 in set one and 6-2 in the second set. Over on six, Vesa Gjinai took down Amalia Suciu 6-4 in the first set and 6-1 in set two.
Finally, on court one, Jo-Yee Chan defeated Bella Crossman in what was a hard-fought back-and-forth affair that saw the match go into a tiebreak after the two were tied 6-6 in set two. Chan pulled away with the victory over Crossman 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
“I felt the pressure of senior day for sure,” Chan said after the match. “I was extra hard on myself today, but I’m proud that I was able to come back and ride through the highs and the lows of the match.”
With the win against GCU, the Aztecs finish the regular season as
the Mountain West Champions with a 10-1 conference record. This marks back-to-back seasons in which the Aztecs will hold the regular-season crown.
As the regular season now sits in the rear view mirror, the Aztecs head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Championships from April 22 through April 25. SDSU will look to lift yet another Championship trophy as the program seeks its second title in three years.
“That would be the cherry on top to win the conference tournament,” Martinache said. “For us as seniors, I think it would be an amazing finish. It’s going to be tough; there are a lot of good teams there, but we have a very good group of tough people.”
The Aztecs hold the No. 1 seed in the tournament and have a first-round bye, hosting the winner of No. 8 Wyoming and No. 9 New Mexico.
“We know how tough it is to win three matches back-to-back-to-back, but we will continue to trust what we’ve done all season,” Vinel said. “If we keep our focus like we’ve been doing, if we keep our attitude and energy, then it will give us a good chance to win, but still a long way to go.”
