John Culbertson (@johnculb3) -Reporter
San Jose State women’s tennis took a road trip to Boise State to close out its final Mountain West matches of the regular season.
The Spartans started their road trip off with a win against Utah State Friday morning.
While these matches may have some impact on SJSU’s standings, gaining some momentum going into the MW Championships next week could have a strong impact on their performance. Winning their last two duals of the season could give the Spartans an edge to start the tournament.
Starting the day against Boise, head coach Chad Skorupka sent out three of his most experienced doubles pairings of the season.
He could rely on sophomore Irena Muradyan and junior Rozalina Youseva to secure one match, as the pairing held a 9-2 overall record together this season.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, neither of the two remaining doubles pairings won their matches, giving them a one-point deficit going into the singles matches.
While the Spartans wished they could have a lead and momentum going into their singles matches, their actual scenario was not foreign to them. More often than not, the team has lost the doubles point this year.
If anything, this was almost poetic and representative of their season. The Spartans had a wealth of experience in this situation and it would be put to the test once again.
Unfortunately for SJSU, this story was not a thriller, but rather a tragedy.
The Spartans showed a wealth of fight on the court, but couldn’t overcome the volleys from the Broncos.
Two of coach Skorupka’s strongest singles’ players, Youseva and senior Alba Pedrero Galindo, fell early to put the Spartans one loss away from defeat.
Ultimately, the dual was set at 3-2 in the Broncos’ favor while only two matches remained in play, both in their third set.
The Spartans were unable to hold on, and dropped the next match to give Boise State the victory 4-2.
SJSU has had trouble closing this season and have ultimately come up short on multiple occasions.
“We had some opportunities with two three-setters still on the court to play,” Skorupka said. “We needed to win both of them to win the match but came up short, kinda been like that all season.”
SJSU will close out its season next week at the MW Championships starting Wednesday, Apr. 27.
Scores
San José State , Boise State
Doubles competition
1. Joana Baptista/Nicole Discenza (Boise) def. Alba Pedrero Galindo/Lara Marco Mas [L] (SJSU) 6-3
2. Rozalina Youseva/Irena Muradyan [w] (SJSU) vs. Shauna Heffernan/Holly Stewart(Boise) 6-4
3. Pauline Ernstberger/Ana Conde Vendrell (Boise) def. Raquel Villan Pereira/Jovana Babic [L] (SJSU) 6-3
Singles competition
1. Pauline Ernstberger (Boise) def. Alba Pedrero Galindo [L] (SJSU) 7-5, 6-1
2. Irena Muradyan [w] (SJSU) vs. Joana Baptista (Boise) 6-3, 6-3
3. Nicole Discenza (Boise) def. Rozalina Youseva [L] (SJSU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Raquel Villan Pereira [uf] (SJSU) def. Ana Conde Vendrell (Boise) 6-4, 4-6, 5-5
5. Bhakti Shah (Boise) def. Lara Marco Mas [L] (SJSU) 6-3, 0-6, 6-3
6. Jovana Babic [w] (SJSU) vs. Shauna Heffernan (Boise) 7-5, 7-5
