BOISE, Idaho - Second-seeded and host Boise State eliminated the University of Hawai`i from the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Championship, Thursday, after a 4-0 women's quarterfinal round victory at the Appleton Tennis Center. The Rainbow Wahine concluded their season with a 6-17 record.
The match was the final one for UH seniors Kana Aikawa, Samanta Cappella, and Florence Wasko. It also marked the fifth straight year, the Rainbow Wahine were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The Broncos (17-3), ranked 44th in the latest ITA Collegiate rankings, grabbed the doubles point with wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 courts.
In singles play, the Rainbow Wahine hung tough with the hosts as two matches went to a third set and another went deep into the second. Still the Broncos used straight set wins at court four, where Klaudia Wlodarczyk defeated Wasko, 6-2, 6-4, and at court six, where Tiffany Coll swept Cappella, 6-0, 6-0 to grab a commanding 3-0 team lead.
Bianca Jochimsen overcame a stubborn Aikawa for a 6-1, 7-5 victory at No. 1, clinching the match for the Broncos. In other action, Julia Hodes split sets with BSU's Polina Kokoulina at No. 2 while Sophie Kobuch was down 3-0 in the third in her court three match against Jana Mackova. At No. 5, Chloe Bihag was in a tight match with Stacey Housley, after losing a first-set tiebreaker before the match was halted.
The Broncos next face 61st-ranked Nevada in a semifinal round match on Friday.
Match Results
#44 Boise State def. Hawai`i, 4-0
Doubles (BSU wins doubles point)
1. Mackova/Laura Baum (BSU) def. Hodes /Kobuch, 8-0
2. Kokoulina/Tatiana Ganzha (BSU) vs. Bihag/Wasko, 5-4, unfinished
3. Coll/Wlodarczyk (BSU) def. Aikawa/Julia Sandborn, 8-1
Singles (each match worth one team point)
1. Bianca Jochimsen (BSU) def. Kana Aikawa, 6-1, 7-5
2. Polina Kokoulina (BSU) vs. Julia Hodes, 6-7, 6-3, 1-0, unfinished
3. Jana Mackova (BSU) vs. Sophie Kobuch, 6-2, 3-6, 3-0, unfinished
4. Klaudia Wlodarczyk (BSU) def. Florence Wasko, 6-2, 6-4
5. Stacey Housley (BSU) vs. Chloe Bihag, 7-6, 3-2, unfinished
6. Tiffany Coll (BSU) def. Samanta Cappella, 6-0, 6-0
-UH-
