FULLERTON, Calif. – Cal State Fullerton gets its second conference win of the season against Hawai'i.
The Titans, with their third win in a row, are now 5-2 this season and 2-0 in conference play which puts them 2nd in the Big West rankings.
The team confirmed they were hard to beat at home as they move to 4-1 while playing at the Titans Tennis Courts.
DOUBLES
Hawai'I started strong and took early leads in two of the three doubles matches.
The duo of Caisey Lee Emery and Masako Makiba had an impressive performance and almost blanked their opponent on Court No.2. The Two Titans were the first ones to win their match with a 6-1 result.
On Court No.1, Karla Portalatin and Sarah Nuno were pairing up against Melounova and Dolokova. The duo from Hawai'i took an early lead and was up 4-1. It was up to Portalatin and Nuno to make the comeback and that is exactly what they did. The two seniors won 5 games in a row and took the doubles match 6-4 giving Fullerton its first match point of the day.
At No.3, Eira Tobrand and Luxizi Meng were down 1-4 early as well but were about to come back as they reduced the Hawai'i's lead to 3-4 right before the doubles point was clinched by Fullerton.
Fullerton was then leading 1-0 before starting the singles.
SINGLES
Karla Portalatin was playing at No.1 against nationally ranked Petra Melounova (119).
The Hawai'i athlete dominated Portalatin in two sets 6-2,7-5 and made it 1-1 between the two teams.
At No.2, Sarah Nuno did not waste time and finished her match in two sets, 6-2,6-3.
Quickly after Nuno, Luxizi Meng was able to get the win at No.5 and put the Titans up 3-1.
The Titans only needed one more point to get the win assured.
Eira Tobrand was the one to get the clinching point for Fullerton with her 6-3,6-1 win over Alzbeta Houbova at No.6.
Genevieve Zeidan gets her second dual match win of the season against Nikola Dolakova to give the Titans their fifth point of the day.
The Titans did not stop there as Caisey Lee Emery won her match after a long battle against Michelle Pits. After winning the first and losing the second, Emery was able to win the super tiebreaker 10-2.
UP NEXT
The Titans will be back on action this weekend on March 9th and 10th for a pair of matches. On Saturday at 11:00am P.T., they will take on Long Beach State for their third conference match of the season. On Sunday the 10th, the Titans will be playing against Youngstown State at 12:30pm P.T.
RESULTS
Cal State Fullerton 6, University of Hawai'i 1
SINGLES
- Petra Melounova (UH) def. Karla Portalatin (CSUF) 6-2,7-5
- Sarah Nuno (CSUF) def. Mayaan Sela (UH) 6-2,6-3
- Genevieve Zeidan (CSUF) def. Nikola Dolakova (UH) 7-6(4),6-4
- Caisey Lee Emery (CSUF) def. Michelle Pits (UH) 6-1,5-7,10-2
- Luxizi Meng (CSUF) def. Roxanne Resma (UH) 6-4,6-2
- Eira Tobrand (CSUF) def. Alzbeta Houbova (UH) 6-3,6-1
Order of Finish: 1,2,5,6*,3,4
*Clinching point
DOUBLES
1. Nuno/Portalatin (CSUF) def. Melounova/Dolakova (UH) 6-4
2. Makiba/Emery (CSUF) def. Sela/Pits (UH) 6-1
3. Tobrand/Meng (CSUF) vs. Resma/Houbova (UH) 3-5 (unfinished)
Order of Finish: 2,1
CATCH ALL THE ACTION
Keep up with the Titans and follow along with live stats on Twitter, @FullertonWTEN.
SUPPORT THE TITANS!
Fans can purchase tickets for various Cal State Fullerton athletic events by visiting FullertonTitans.com/Tickets. The Athletic Ticket Office can also be contacted by phone at 657-278-2783 or by email at athletictixs@fullerton.edu. The Ticket Office is located at the Titan House off of Gymnasium Drive at the eastern end of the Intramural Fields and is open from 10 am – 4 pm PT, Monday – Friday.
FOLLOW THE TITANS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in Titan Athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook/FullertonTitans), Twitter (@FullertonTitans) Instagram (@FullertonTitans) and Snapchat (FullertonTitans). In addition, the women's tennis team has its own Twitter (@FullertonWTEN) and Instagram accounts (@FullertonWTEN).