Broncos dominate Portland State to wrap up weekend sweep

Saturday, March 5

Boise, Idaho

9 a.m. MT

Boise State

Portland State

Broncos dominate Portland State to wrap up weekend sweep

3/5/2022 4:01:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho - Boise State women's tennis cruised past Portland State 6-1 on Saturday morning to complete the home opening weekend sweep. Combined with Friday's victory over Idaho State and today's win against the PSU Vikings, the Broncos moved to 2-1 on the year.

Coach Maria Lopez was happy with the team's performance against the Vikings, "I think it was a pretty solid performance. Obviously, there are always things we can continue to work on, but I am happy with how we played.

"You know, there are a few positions where we're consistently showing a lot of discipline, but now we need to work on getting that from one to six and in doubles. We need to find that toughness from beginning to end, but I think the girls are really buying into that and it's starting to show in the results. We're excited to get a couple wins this weekend."

The Blue and Orange opened Saturday's contest with Portland State by claiming the team doubles point 2-1. Boise State earned victories on court two where Shauna Heffernan and Holly Stewart won 6-3, then clinched the team point when Joana Baptista and Nicole Discenza held off the Vikings' Nike Beukers and Majo Hernandez 7-5 on court one. The final doubles match went to the visitors.

In singles play the Broncos dominated the opening sets claiming five of the six. Stewart extended Boise State's lead to 2-0 when she quickly put away her opponent at No. 3 singles by a 6-1, 6-1 score. The senior from New Zealand is now 13-5 in singles on the year.

Stewart talked about the match after it was over, "I felt great. I've been playing really well and I've been striking the ball really well. I'm feeling really confident out there. I just think we've got to leave it all out there. I mean, we're here to compete and get the result, as long as we go out there and show fire with everything we do, I don't think anybody can stop us."

Ana Conde Vendrell was the second Bronco off the court following her decisive 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles over Portland State's Makoto O'Hara. The win pushed Boise State out to a 3-0 lead and handed Conde Vendrell her 10th singles victory of the season.

Discenza brought home the match-clinching win on court five where she rolled past Maddie Egan in straight sets 6-1, 6-0 to make the team score 4-0 Broncos. The victory moved the sophomore from Venezuela to 12-4 overall in singles this year.

Baptista followed with a three-set 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory on court two versus Nika Beukers to record her 12th singles win of the season.

The final Bronco victory came from Pauline Ernstberger at No. 1 singles where she won a marathon set-two tiebreaker to win her match 6-2, 7-6(10) over Jacinta Milenkoski.

Boise State will be back in action next weekend when they host the Idaho Vandals on Sunday (March 13).

Match Box Score
Boise State (2-1) def. Portland State (4-7) 6-1
3/5/2022 at Boise, Idaho (Boas Indoor Tennis Center)

Doubles (Order of finish: 2,1,3)
1. Baptista/Discenza (BSU) def. Beukers/Capu Sanoner (PSU) 7-5
2. Shauna Heffernan/Stewart (BSU) def. Rees/Hernandez (PSU) 6-3
3. Milenkoski/Ohara (PSU) def. Ernstberger/Conde Vendrell (BSU) 6-4

Singles (Order of finish: 3,4,5,2,1,6)
1. Pauline Ernstberger (BSU) def. Jacinta Milenkoski (PSU) 6-2, 7-6 (12-10)
2. Joana Baptista (BSU) def. Nika Beukers (PSU) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
3. Holly Stewart (BSU) def. Emily Rees (PSU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Ana Conde Vendrell (BSU) def. Makoto Ohara (PSU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Nicole Discenza (BSU) def. Maddie Egan (PSU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Majo Hernandez (PSU) def. Bhakti Shah (BSU) 6-4, 1-6, 1-0 (13-11)