PASADENA, Calif. – The No. 22-ranked Southwestern University Pirates women's tennis team upset No. 21 Caltech 7-2 to split its weekend California trip against nationally-ranked opponents.
In doubles, Mary Cardone and Emma Kesterson opened the day with an 8-2 victory for the Pirates over Michelle Hyun and Jennifer Yu in the No. 2 doubles spot. Caltech bounced back with a victory in No. 1 doubles, with Anna Tifrea and Sarina Liu defeating Esther Bowers and Nina Mitrofanova by a score of 8-1.
Alli Ziehm and Taylor Despriet broke the tie with an 8-5 victory over Nina Solovyeva and Ankita Roychoudhury in No. 3 doubles, giving the Pirates momentum going into singles with a 2-1 lead.
"Taylor played much better tennis today and closed out No. 3 doubles serving under high pressure," Head Coach Billy Porter said.
Mariana Quetzeri extended the momentum, picking up a quick win from the No. 6 singles spot, defeating Solovyeva 6-3, 6-0. Yu answered for CalTech in No. 2 singles, defeating Bowers in a hard-fought match 7-5, 6-4.
The Pirates swept the rest of the match, getting a pair of 6-2 victories from Kesterson over Liu in No. 4 singles, followed by No. 18-ranked singles player Mitrofanova defeating Hyun 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 3 spot. Nina Elez went three sets with Roychoudhury in No. 5 singles, winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-1, and Cardone closed the day with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Tifrea in No. 1 singles.
"Emma Kesterson was a Rockstar today, not only playing well but being our primary source of energy," Porter said. "And Mariana got us a huge point playing the type of player everyone dreads playing and she played her exactly the way she needed to."
With the win, the Pirates improves to 4-1 on the season. Southwestern will return home and host LeTourneau and McMurry on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
For more SU Pirate photos, please see Carlos Barron Photography