Panthers to play for seventh in SCIAC Tournament

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Chapman University women's tennis team will play for seventh place after dropping a pair of matches at the 2016 SCIAC Women's Tennis Tournament. On day one, Chapman fell quickly to No. 3-seeded University of Redlands 5-0 in match three and dropped match eight on day two 7-2 to No. 7-seeded Caltech.

Match 1: Redlands 5, Chapman 0

In an effort to find drier courts on Friday, No. 19 Redlands and Chapman relocated the match to Claremont Tennis Club. The Bulldogs rolled past Chapman after dominating doubles and winning the first two singles matches to secure the win.

Chapman senior Andrea Hammer and junior Madeline Saunders held their own in doubles competition falling in a close 8-4 match to Natalie Etchegaray and Lauren Villanuenva in the first match of doubles play. Chapman then continued to struggle as freshman Nicole Fouts and sophomore Thimanthi Withana fell 8-1 in the No. 2 spot to Bulldogs freshman pair Elizabeth Jonhson and Kate Dolan. The Panthers then fell 3-0, when senior duo Danielle Simmons and Maya Nowak were blanked in an 8-0 match to Redland's Emily Murnin and Gabriela Vasquez.

In singles play, Chapman's Simmons fell 6-0, 6-1 to Vasquez in the No. 5 spot to move Redlands to move 4-0. Bulldogs Stephanie Ramos secured the win in a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Nowak in the No. 6 position.

Match 2: Caltech 7, Chapman 2

On Saturday, Hammer and Saunders started off strong in doubles play, blanking Vinci Chen and Sophia Chen in an 8-0 victory in the No. 1 slot. However, Panther duo Withana and Fouts fell to the Beavers Erin Wang and Kana Moriyama 8-6 in the No. 2 spot. The Beavers then pulled into the lead 2-1 when Panther junior Thea Knobel and Simmons fell 8-2 to Cecelia Andrews and Julia Reisler of Caltech.

In singles play Hammer continued to dominate and allowed Chapman to tie the match up 2-2 by sweeping Vinci Chen 6-0, 6-0 from the No. 1 slot.

Tied 2-2, Caltech went on to dominate the next five matches and shut out Chapman. Saunders fell to Reisler 6-3, 7-5 in the No. 2 spot in the closest match of the day. Trailing 3-2, Fouts then fell 6-1, 6-1 to Moriymama in the No. 3 spot to give Caltech the 4-2 lead. In the No. 4 spot, Withana fell 6-3, 6-1 to Caltech's Sophia Chen, and both Simmons and Knobel were shut out in the No. 5 and No. 6 spot to allow the Beavers to secure the win. 

The Panthers will face No. 8 Occidental at 3 p.m. on Sunday at Pomona-Pitzer in a battle for seventh place.

by Raquel Rinauro
Sports Information Assistant

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