Long Beach State University
Wyoming
49ers fall in long battle with Wyoming 4-3
2/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 10, 2012
Long Beach, Calif. - Long Beach State ended up on the wrong side in two out of a trio of three-set matches in singles, and it proved to be the difference after a strong start as the 49ers lost to No. 75 Wyoming 4-3 in the first matchup for the 49ers against a ranked opponent in the spring.
Long Beach State got off to a fast start in doubles, winning the point. Rachel Manasse and Laura Bernard picked up the biggest win, defeating No. 44 Veronica Popovici and Simona Synkova 8-4, while Anais Dallara and Klaudia Malenovska defeated Alexandra Kovacs and Jessica Parizher by the same margin to earn the point. The Cowgirls took the last doubles match with an 8-6 win by Christa Gecheva and Sasa Nemcova over Sarah Cantlay and Julie Luzar.
The early momentum held for one more point, as #122 Manasse dominated her singles match, defeating Synkova 6-1, 6-1 to give the 49ers a 2-0 lead. Wyoming was able to tie the match with two singles wins, as Popovici topped Dallara after winning an 8-6 tiebreaker for the first set 7-6, 6-1, and Julie Luzar also lost a tough tiebreaker on the way to a loss falling 11-9 in a 7-6, 6-4 loss to Alexandra Kovacs.
The remaining three matches all went to three sets, continuing the close contest. Long Beach State held on to the match lead as No. 117 Laura Bernard rallied from a first set loss to defeat Sasa Nemcova 5-7, 6-2, 6-4. At No. 6 singles however, the opposite happened, as Anna Jeczmionka defeated Silviya Zhelyazkova 6-3 in the first set, but then dropped the next two 6-4, 6-4, sending the match to No. 5 singles to decide everything.
Malenovska, who had lost the first set to Parizher 6-2, rallied from a second set deficit to force a second-set tiebreaker which she won, but ultimately lost 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 as Long Beach State lost for the first time in 2012 in a match that took over four hours.
Long Beach State will get right back to action on Saturday morning, beginning Big West play as the No. 38 49ers host Pacific at 11 a.m. in the Rhodes Tennis Center.
Players Mentioned
