SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah women's tennis team fell just short against No. 7 Washington today at the Eccles Tennis Center, losing 4-3. The Utes are 8-3 overall this season and 1-1 in Pac-12 play.Â
"I am proud of the effort by our team today," head coach
Mat Iandolo said. "If people didn't think we could be a great team, I think they are convinced otherwise after today. We were just a couple of points short of a top-ten win. We have to use this as a learning experience to move forward because next time we are in this situation, we want to come away with the victory."
The Utes got things started in doubles play with
Brianna Chisholm and
Madison Tattini coming away with a huge win on court one to get things going. The duo picked up a 6-2 win over No. 43 Stacey Fung and Nika Zupancic with
Whitney Hekking and
Leah Heimuli following suit with a 6-4 victory to clinch the doubles point.Â
In singles,
Emily Dush came away with a key victory on the court three, defeating Katarina Kopcalic in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3 followed by a huge win on court one. Chisholm won her first set 7-5 against No. 69 Stacey Fung and then came back to win the tiebreaker in the second, posting a score of 7-6 (1) to tie the match 3-3.Â
The Utes were unable to finish with wins on court two with Tattini falling to No. 112 Vanessa Wong while Heimuli and
Anya Lamoreaux fell on courts five and six.Â
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It then all came down to court four with Hekking battling back to just trail 5-4 after being down 3-1, but Washington was able to come away with the final point and won 6-4 to seal the match.Â
The Utes will return to action on March 12 when they head to California for a match against Fresno State before taking on BYU in Provo on March 16 for the Deseret First Duel.Â
Washington 4, Utah 3
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Doubles (1, 2)
Brianna Chisholm/
Madison Tattini def. #43 Stacey Fung/Nika Zupancic: 6-2
Whitney Hekking/
Leah Heimuli def. Vanessa Wong/Zoey Weil: 6-4
Emily Dush/
Anya Lamoreaux vs. Sedona Gallagher/Kenadi Hance: 5-4 (Unf.)
Singles (5, 2, 3, 6, 1, 4)
Brianna Chisholm def. #69 Stacey Fung: 7-5, 7-6 (1)
#112 Vanessa Wong def.
Madison Tattini: 6-1, 7-5
Emily Dush def. Katarina Kopcalic: 7-5, 6-3
Natsuho Arakawa def.
Whitney Hekking: 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
Sedona Gallagher def.
Leah Heimuli: 6-0, 6-3
Nika Zupancic def.
Anya Lamoreaux: 6-2, 6-2
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