TURLOCK —J'Ana Diamond and Ebone Qualls both twice as the Stanislaus State women's tennis team challenged 22nd ranked UC San Diego and pushed the Tritons to a tight 5-4 team score on a breezy, but sunny afternoon at Stan State Courts.

The Warriors took advantage of not having to face UCSD's top player Kyra Scott and nearly took the top doubles match, which would have swung the team score in favor of Stan State. Still, in the No. 1 doubles match, Jaella Conway and Cassidy Ferrell took Britta Mosser, Scott's normal partner, and Monica Yassear to a 8-5 score.

At No. 2 doubles, the Warriors were victorious behind the resilience of Qualls and Diamond, rallying to an 8-6 victory over Shannon Theisen and Ashley Chao. Qualls and Diamond earned their first win together as a duo.

Individually, Diamond also won at No. 2 singles with 6-3, 6-3 wins over Jasmine Hosseini while Qualls took down her opponent, Madison Hale, at No. 5 in a see-saw battle. After splitting the first two sets, Qualls out-lasted Hale in the super-tiebreaker, 10-7.

In the longest match of the day, Analyssa Tallas, too, held strong in three sets. She won the first 7-6 before losing a tight second set, 6-4. Then, in the super tiebreakers, Tallas rallied to even the score at 7-7 and rolled off three straight points for the 10-7 win. Yassear served into the net twice for the match point.

UCSD's top player Scott is ranked No. 31 in the latest ITA rankings and when paired with Mosser, the Tritons duo is the 25th best doubles team in Division II.

Today's narrow loss against a ranked team marked the fourth straight time the Warriors were playing against a team in the top 30 in the ITA rankings. They had lost three straight 9-0 decisions, including last week's match against No. 2 BYU Hawaii.

Stanislaus State will host Fresno City College on Saturday at 10 a.m. before embarking on a Spring Break trip to Colorado for three matches March 29-31.

#22 UC San Diego 5, Stanislaus State 4
Mar 24, 2016 at Turlock, Calif. (Stan State Courts) 

Singles competition

1. Britta Mosser (UCSD) def. Jaella Conway (STAN) 6-0, 6-4

2. J'Ana Diamond (STAN) def. Jasmine Hosseini (UCSD) 6-3, 6-3

3. Ashley Chao (UCSD) def. Cassidy Ferrell (STAN) 6-2, 6-0

4. Alexandra Weil (UCSD) def. Lamella Belgica (STAN) 6-1, 6-2

5. Ebone Qualls (STAN) def. Madison Hale (UCSD) 6-4, 0-6, 10-7

6. Analyssa Tallas (STAN) def. Monica Yassear (UCSD) 7-6, 4-6, 10-7

 

Doubles competition

1. Britta Mosser/Monica Yassear (UCSD) def. Jaella Conway/Cassidy Ferrell (STAN) 8-5

2. J'Ana Diamond/Ebone Qualls (STAN) def. Shannon Theisen/Ashley Chao (UCSD) 8-6

3. Madison Hale/Alexandra Weil (UCSD) def. Lamella Belgica/Analyssa Tallas (STAN) 8-1

 

Match Notes

UC San Diego 7-8; National ranking #22; Regional ranking #4

Stanislaus State 4-7; Regional ranking #10