Pivotal points cost young Lopes in NCAA tourney loss

Friday, May 3

Los Angeles, Calif.

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

San Diego

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

5/3/2024 2:50:00 PM | Women's Tennis, Paul Coro

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No. 23 San Diego ousts GCU 4-0 after momentum of tight doubles point

By: Paul Coro

LOS ANGELES – The abrupt ending of a 4-0 NCAA tournament first-round loss to a top-25 team does not do justice to what the Grand Canyon women's tennis team accomplished this season or how competitive the Lopes were Friday with freshmen making up half of their singles lineup.

No. 23 San Diego won a highly contested doubles point that proved pivotal when the Toreros won three singles matches before the Lopes could follow through with chances in the unfinished three singles matches.

"We fought until the end," GCU second-year head coach Katarina Adamovic said of her WAC regular-season and postseason champions. "I'm just so proud of this team. We have a lot of people coming back, and we're going to add some new people. I'm happy about this year and excited about next year.

San Diego grabbed a 6-2 doubles win on Court 2 quickly, but the Lopes were in position to take the point on Courts 1 and 3.

GCU freshmen Iva Sepa and Elizaveta Morozova broke USD's serve for a 5-4 lead and was two points away from closing the set when graduate Natasha Puehse and senior Santa Strombacha were beaten on Court 1 for only the fourth time in 24 matches this season.

That top-court match was on serve until the Toreros broke serve in a love game to take the set and the doubles point. The Toreros closed out straight-set wins on Courts 3, 4 and 5 against GCU freshmen before the Lopes could build momentum on the other courts.

"It was a great match," Adamovic said. "San Diego is a great team. It could've been easily flipped, but you need a little bit of luck on your side and we didn't have that. I saw the potential in this team. San Diego was just a little bit tougher."

Lopes sophomore Dania Deaifi extended the dual match by shaking off a 7-5 loss in her first set on Court 6. Deaifi, a much-improved player from Irvine, California, was at 3-3 in the second set before winning three consecutive games to force an uncompleted third set.

"Despite the score, I knew all my teammates were going to fight as hard as they could, and they did," said Deaifi, who went 11-2 this season. "We just came up a little short. The scoreboard doesn't reflect how we are as a team and how we play together."

Morozova, playing with a hamstring injury since the WAC Tournament, nearly had the doubles win but her health did not allow her to play with the form that had won 10 consecutive singles matches. She lost 6-0, 6-0 before Krokhotina, her fellow Russian freshman, had an 11-match winning streak end on Court 5 in a 6-1, 6-2 loss.

"Elizaveta wanted to play," Adamovic said. "It shows how gritty she is, and how big of a heart she has."

GCU maintained a path to team victory on the remaining four courts, but lost the first set on all six of those when Puehse lost 7-6 in a 7-5 tiebreaker.

Iva Sepa

As some momentum built with Strombacha taking a 4-2 lead on Court 2 and Deaifi winning her second set, Sepa tried to rally by breaking serve to trail 5-3 before San Diego claimed a 7-5, 6-3 win on Court 3 for the 4-0 team victory.

"Iva showed what she is capable of doing," Adamovic said. "Her potential is unmatched.

"We had three freshmen in the lineup, and this was their first NCAAs. When the stage is this big and you haven't been in this situation and you have people across from you that have been, a few key points change the match."

The emotions in the post-match locker room confirmed to Adamovic what she saw all season in how much the program meant to the Lopes, who have progressed from 8-10 in the season prior to Adamovic's arrival to 15-10 last season and 22-3 this season.

"This is just going to make us hungrier next season," Deaifi said. "We know what we did this season. We know next year is going to be better. We know we have a standard now that we're not going to drop."

The season is not over for Puehse, who was chosen to play in the 64-player NCAA singles tournament on May 17-19 at Oklahoma State, where Adamovic played collegiately.Puehse fought Friday in her first set, leading 5-3 before losing three consecutive games and tying the set back at 6-6. When she trailed the tiebreaker 4-0, Puehse nearly fought back before losing 7-5. She was trailing 3-2 in the second set before the team match was decided.

"There is no doubt in my mind she would pull that match out for us if we needed it," Adamovic said. "She is going to be ready for individuals, no doubt."