Jan. 23, 2016
HONOLULU - San José State's women's tennis used some late-match heroics from a freshman playing in her first collegiate dual match to edge Hawai'i, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at the UH Tennis Complex.
With the 72nd-ranked Spartans (1-0, 0-0 MW) and Rainbow Wahine (1-3, 0-0 Big West) deadlocked at three points apiece, match came down to Miyo Kobayashi on court No. 5. The freshman from Bangkok, Thailand, took the first set from Paulina Petriskova, 7-6, before dropping the second set to force a deciding third. Kobayashi then came through with a 6-3 win to seal a Spartan win in the season opener.
"I won the first set but then when I lost the second one I was so nervous because it was my first match," Kobayashi said. "The team would have lost if I lost my match, so I was very nervous. Then when I finally won, I heard everyone cheering for me and it was very exciting."
The win also marked the first for Chad Skorupka as San José State's head coach after being elevated to the position from assistant coach last summer.
"This was a very sweet win for my first one as the head coach here, and I'm just happy for the program and team," Skorupka said.
Gaelle Rey and Marie Klocker opened the season with an impressive display at No. 1 doubles, dispatching Sarah Gealer and Klára Pribylová, 6-2. After Hawai'i claimed the No. 3 doubles match, Sybille Gauvain and Marine Dans got within one point of a win at No. 2, but saw UH's Cindy Nguyen and Roxanne Resma rally for the victory.
In singles action, Hawai'i got consective wins at the Nos. 6 and 3 spots to come within one point of a win before the Spartans rattled off four consecutive points. Gauvain captured San José State's first point of the season with a 6-2, 6-3 win at the top spot in the lineup. Klocker showed why she's the 90th-ranked singles player in the country with her 6-2, 6-0 win over Sarah Gealer at No. 2. Marine Dans then picked up her first win as a Spartan with a 6-3, 6-3 showing at No. 4, setting up Kobayashi's heroics.
"I'm just so proud of the team after how they competing after losing the doubles point, where we had a match point to win," Skorupka said. "Julianna [Bacelar] and I only told them one thing, and that was to come out on fire and show the other team you're going to stay out there and fight. That's exactly what happened. Some of the girls who didn't come up on the winning side in doubles really showed up in singles."
San José State has nearly two weeks off before it returns to the courts in a visit to San Francsico on Friday, Feb. 5.
#72 San José State 4, Hawai'i 3
UH Tennis Complex (Honolulu)
Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016
Doubles
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1. Gaelle Rey/Marie Klocker (SJSU) def. Sarah Gealer/Klára Pribylová (UH): 6-2
2. Cindy Nguyen/Roxanne Resma (UH) def. Sybille Gauvain/Marine Dans (SJSU): 7-6
3. Marina Hruba/Paulina Petriskova (UH) def. Miyo Kobayashi/Justine Deleval (SJSU): 6-1
Singles
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 2, 1, 4, 5
1. Sybille Gauvain (SJSU) def. Cindy Nguyen (UH): 6-2, 6-3
2. #90 Marie Klocker (SJSU) def. Sarah Gealer (UH): 6-2, 6-0
3. Marina Hruba (UH) def. Gaelle Rey (SJSU): 6-0, 6-2
4. Marine Dans (SJSU) def. Klára Pribylová (UH): 6-3, 6-3
5. Miyo Kobayashi (SJSU) def. Paulina Petriskova (UH): 7-6, 4-6, 6-3
6. Roxanne Resma (UH) def. Justine Deleval (SJSU): 6-1, 6-1