FRESNO —
Verena Preikschas continues to dominate collegiate women's tennis in the West, no matter what division her opponent plays in. Saturday afternoon, Preikschas defeated the No. 1 ranked singles player in the NAIA at Fresno Pacific.
Preikschas, the 2009 CCAA Most Valuable Player of the Year, improved to 2-0 this spring in singles play as the sophomore from Germany defeated Fresno Pacific's top player Katia Sabate, 6-1, 6-3.
As a team, the Warriors lost to the NAIA powerhouse No. 2 Fresno Pacific, 8-1.
Sabate, of Barcelona Spain, entered the season ranked No. 1 in the country in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Fresno Pacific's starting six are all International players.
"It's a huge win for Verena. She played a great match beating the top player in their division," head coach Verek Visaraga said.
Preikschas was coming off a win over Division I San Jose State's Olivia Marshal last Sunday.
FPU has two other players from Spain in Cristina Vallardes and Sara Celma with another from Russia in Yulia Blinovskaya. Vanessa Heroux and Erika Januskova are from Canada as all five won singles matches against the Warriors.
The Sunbirds also swept the doubles competition to win their first match of the season.
Cal State Stanislaus continues its tough preseason schedule with another match against a Division I program. The Warriors will take on Cal State Northridge on Sunday.
Fresno Pacific 8, Cal State Stanislaus 1
Doubles:
1. Katia Sabate/Vanessa Heroux (FPU) def. Verena Preikschas/ Katie Eng, 8-5
2. Sara Celma/ Cristina Valladares (FPU) def. Arina Polovnikova/ Vanesa Reibstein, 9-7
3. Erika Januskova/ Yulia Blinovskaya (FPU) def. Heather Cotter/ Bri McClintock, 8-3
Singles:
1. Preikschas (CSUS) def, K Sabate, 6-1, 6-3
2. Celma (FPU) def. Reibstaein, 6-1, 7-6 (6)
3. Heroux (FPU) def. K. Eng, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Valladares (FPU) def. A. Polovnikova, 6-2, 6-3
5. Januskova (FPU) def. Erin McGurty, 6-0, 6-2
6. Yulia Blinovskova (FPU) def. Lexy Harrington 6-4, 6-3