By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- California Lutheran University won four of six singles matches on its way to a 6-3 victory over Willamette University in women's tennis action on Saturday, March 24 at the Poulson Tennis Center. The Regals improved to 3-8 on the season, while Willamette dropped to 5-5.

CLU took a 2-1 lead into the singles matches after grabbing wins at #1 and #2 doubles. In the top doubles match, Christie Kurdys and Gianna Cupo downed Willmette's team of Mikaila Smith (Sr., Mill Valley, CA/Tamalpais HS) and Robin Pashek (Fr., The Dalles, OR/The Dalles-Wahtonka HS) in a tie-beaker, 8-7 (7-1). The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) goes to a tie-breaker at 7-7 in doubles. At #2 doubles, CLU's team of Annette Sousa and Nicole Neumann defeated Sarah Dean (Fr., Boise, ID/Timberline HS) and Sylvia Marr (Fr., Grants Pass, OR/Hidden Valley HS) of Willamette, 8-3.

In the #3 doubles match, Siena Ginsburg (Fr., Bend, ORSummit HS) and Alexis Gjurasic (Jr., Olympia, WACapital HS) won for the Bearcats by an 8-3 score against Sarah Seeman and Jade Moore.

Ginsburg also provided Willamette with a win at #5 singles. She dropped the first set, but rallied to defeat Neumann in a marathon match that ended with a super tie-breaker instead of a third set, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 14-12. Aslo winning in singles was Hannah Andres (Jr., Sammamish, WA/Skyline HS) after Moore had to retire from the match due to injury. Moore won the first set, 6-1, but Andres was in front, 3-2, when the second set ended.

"The first day of competition on Spring Break tends to take some adjustment," Willamette Head Coach Bryce Parmelly noted. "That being said, we had some definite bright spots. Our doubles effort was petty strong, and seeing Siena come back to win 14-12 in the super breaker was amazing."

All four of the Regals' victories in singles were in straight sets. Kurdys won #1 singles over Smith, while Seeman defeated Pashek at #2 singles. The #3 singles match was won by Cupo against Dean, and Sousa downed Marr at #4 singles.

Willamette will take on Occidental College on Sunday, March 25 at Scholl Canyon Club in Glendale, California. Match time is set for 1 p.m. (PDT).