Boise State Edged by Fresno State 4-3

Sunday, April 18

Fresno, Calif.

3 p.m. MT

Boise State

Fresno State

Holly Stewart and Pauline Ernstberger talk before a doubles point.

Photo by: Boise State University

4/18/2021 9:28:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

The Boise State women's tennis team fell in heartbreaking fashion on the road to Fresno State Sunday afternoon.

FRESNO, Calif. – The Bronco women's tennis team won the doubles point and two singles matches but could not hold off the Fresno State rally as Boise State fell in a 4-3 heartbreaker on the road Sunday afternoon. Fresno State now passes Boise State in the Mountain West standings, as the two teams were tied for third heading into today's match.

"Obviously it's tough to lose 4-3," said head coach Beck Roghaar. "It was a tough match out here on the road playing Fresno State at Fresno."

The doubles point was a back-and-forth affair that in the end saw Boise State walk away with the 1-0 advantage. The Bronco duo of Ana Conde Vendrell and Nicole Discenza struck first on court three, winning their match in quick 6-2 fashion. However, the Bulldogs would respond well winning court one by a score of 6-3. Pauline Ernstberger and Holly Stewart would seal the deal on court two with a 6-4 win to give the Broncos the early lead.

"On the positive side of things, we came out and did what we wanted to in doubles today," said Roghaar. "We got that doubles point back after making some good adjustments after losing yesterday's doubles point. In singles we knew it was going to be a battle and I think these are the type of matches that are going to help us mature."

The Bulldogs began to claw their way back in singles, taking the No. 1 singles match to even things at one apiece. Holly Stewart put on her usual display on court three, winning in straight-sets 6-1, 7-5 over Deniza Marcinkevica to reclaim the Bronco lead. However, the Bulldogs bounced back to win on court six, evening things at two all.

Bronco freshman Pauline Ernstberger put on an impressive display to keep her team in the match, winning in two-sets 6-2, 6-1 on court two over Fresno State's Cristina Flaquer to put Boise State in a position to clinch the match.

The Bulldogs would go on to win on court five. After winning the first set 7-5, Vanessa Timm was unable to stop the rally from Carolina Piferi, who won the next two sets 6-1, 6-2 to send the Broncos home with a loss.

"Vanessa has come up clutch for us so many times for us this year in her senior season," said Roghaar. "Having her out there with the match on the line was a situation I feel like we would want. It just didn't come up that way on her end, but she fought hard. I think we all will learn a lot from this one."

Up next, the Broncos will play their final two conference matches of the season in Logan, Utah. They will play Wyoming on April 24 (2 p.m.) and Colorado State on April 25 (9:30 a.m.) to round out the team's regular season.

"The team's not happy with the result and I think that's a good thing," said Roghaar. "I think we're going to really use this match to learn a lot in terms of what we need to do to get through a good opponent like this on the road. I think everything we do and every experience we get has value and gives us an opportunity to do something with it. We're bummed this one didn't fall our way in the end."