SURPRISE, AZ -- Cal State LA's women's tennis team ended competition in the PacWest Championships with a hard-fought loss to Sonoma State in the third-place match on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles lost two of the three doubles and three of the first four singles contests and fell to the Seawolves, 5-2, on Saturday at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club. Cal State LA (12-10) finished fourth in the conference tournament for the second straight season. Cal State LA was ranked 35th in the nation entering the tournament, while Sonoma State (16-6) was ranked 24th in the nation.

Cal State LA's Nozomi Matsuoka earned the PacWest Championship Sportsmanship Award.

The two teams split the first two doubles contests with Cal State LA's Isabella Lopez and Iris Raileanu defeating Amanda Zuidema and Hillary Fazekas, 8-3, at No. 2 doubles and Sonoma State's Kaitlyn Kaithcock and Katherine Long beating Pyper Brown and Elizaveta Sokolova at No. 3 doubles, 8-4.

The No. 1 doubles match was a huge battle as Cal State LA's Matsuoka and Kayleigh Hall were edged by Sonoma State's Jensyn Warren and Jordyn Kearney, 9-8 (7-3 in the tiebreaker).

Raileanu lost at No. 4 singles to Zuidema, 6-1, 6-1 and Sokolova fell to Kearney at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-1, to get the Seawolves to match point. Hall won at No. 3 singles, 6-4, 5-1, retired, over Haithcock to make it 4-2, but Warren edged Matsuoka at No. 1 singles, 6-4, 6-4. The Golden Eagles split the first two sets at No. 5 singles with Lopez and No. 6 singles with Brown, but those matches were not completed.

Cal State LA opened the tournament with a win over Point Loma before losing matches to No. 1 BYU-Hawaii and No. 24 Sonoma State.

BYU-Hawaii beat Hawaii Pacific to win the conference title.

#24 Sonoma State 5, #35 Cal State L.A. 2
Apr 16, 2016 at Surprise, Ariz.

Singles competition

1. Jensyn Warren (SSU) def. #37 Nozomi Matsuoka (LA) 6-4, 6-4

2. Jordyn Kearney (SSU) def. Elizaveta Sokolova (LA) 6-2, 6-1

3. Kayleigh Hall (LA) def. Kaitlyn Haithcock (SSU) 6-4, 5-1, retired

4. Amanda Zuidema (SSU) def. Iris Raileanu (LA) 6-1, 6-1

5. Isabella Lopez (LA) vs. Karlee Budge (SSU) 6-3, 3-6, 2-3, unfinished

6. Pyper Brown (LA) vs. Katherine Long (SSU) 3-6, 7-6, unfinished

 

Doubles competition

1. Jensyn Warren/Jordyn Kearney (SSU) def. Kayleigh Hall/Nozomi Matsuoka (LA) 9-8 (7-3)

2. Isabella Lopez/Iris Raileanu (LA) def. Amanda Zuidema/Hillary Fazekas (SSU) 8-3

3. Kaitlyn Haithcock/Katherine Long (SSU) def. Pyper Brown/Elizaveta Sokolova (LA) 8-4

Match Notes

Sonoma State 16-6; National ranking #24; Regional ranking #5

Cal State L.A. 12-9; National ranking #35; Regional ranking #7

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,2,3,1)