LA JOLLA -- Cal State L.A.'s women's tennis team put up quite a battle, but came up short against the nation's No. 5 tennis team.

The Golden Eagles took one of the three doubles contests and managed one singles point as well in a competitive 7-2 loss to No. 5 Hawaii Pacific on Thursday at UC San Diego. Cal State L.A. (5-5), ranked 14th in the nation, dropped its second straight tight match this week to a nationally-ranked opponent. Hawaii Pacific is 5-0, including a victory over No. 2 BYU-Hawaii.

Three of the six singles contests wound up going to third-set tiebreakers. Jill Sangria was the lone Golden Eagle to prevail in singles, beating Vivian Hansen, 3-6, 7-6, 10-2, at No. 4 singles. Leora Hemmerich and Tiffani Shaik both won the first set of their matches at No. 2 and No. 3 singles before falling. Hemmerich lost to Celina Goetti, 2-6, 7-6, (10-6) at No. 2 singles, while Shaik lost to Karen Ramirez, 6-7, 6-4, 10-5.

Christie Lau lost in a hard-fought match at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-4.

Lau and Hemmerich posted an impressive 8-3 win at No. 1 doubles over Hansen and Magdalena Smejova, while Shaik and Sangria fell at No. 2 doubles in a close match, 8-6.

Cal State L.A. will return to action on March 15 with a match at Cal State Stanislaus.

5 Hawaii Pacific 7, #14 Cal State L.A. 2
Mar 07, 2013 at UC San Diego 
 

Singles competition

1. Ielyzaveta Rybakova (HPU) def. Christie Lau (CSULA) 6-3, 6-4

2. Celina Goetti (HPU) def. Leora Hemmerich (CSULA) 2-6, 7-6, 10-6

3. Karen Ramirez (HPU) def. Tiffani Shaik (CSULA) 6-7, 6-4, 10-5

4. Jill Sangria (CSULA) def. Vivian Hansen (HPU) 3-6, 7-6, 10-2

5. Magdalena Smejova (HPU) def. Tiffany Leung (CSULA) 6-4, 6-2

6. Carrie Shuler (HPU) def. Samantha Sismundo (CSULA) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles competition

1. Christie Lau/Leora Hemmerich (CSULA) def. Vivian Hansen/Magdalena Smejova (HPU) 8-3

2. Lea Kruse-Utermann/Karen Ramirez (HPU) def. Tiffani Shaik/Jill Sangria (CSULA) 8-6

3. Ielyzaveta Rybakova/Celina Goetti (HPU) def. Sevana Zargarian/Sydney Postal (CSULA) 8-1

Match Notes

Hawaii Pacific 5-0; National ranking #5; Regional ranking #2

Cal State L.A. 5-5; National ranking #14; Regional ranking #4