SAN DIEGO – San Diego State women’s tennis captured its first outright Mountain West Regular Season Championship and No. 1 tournament seed since 2013 after coming out on top of a 4-3 battle against UNLV on Thursday. The Aztecs won the doubles point in addition to courts one, five and six in singles play en route to their eighth straight win, rounding out a 9-1 conference record and 16-6 overall.
Zoe Olmos and Vesa Gjinaj earned the first win of the day, taking down Kaho Oyama and Sofia Sokolvak on court three before Liisa Varul and Jo-Yee Chan clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 victory over Hanna Vinahradava and Nikol Mircheva in the top spot. Yasmine Kabbaj and Gloria Alogo led Coco Zhao and Cindy Hu 5-4 when the point was secured.
Gjinaj put the second point on the board for the Scarlet and Black, cruising to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Hanna Vinahradava on court six.
The Rebels responded with a victory on court three, where Alogo was bested 6-3, 6-2 by Zhao.
Varul added another for the Aztecs, taking down Oyama 6-3, 6-3 on the fifth court.
UNLV was able to bring the match within one point, taking courts four and two. In the fourth spot, Olmos was downed 6-3, 7-5 by Mircheva while Veronika Kliuch earned a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Chan on court two.
With the Rebels on the hunt for a share of the conference title and the Aztecs looking to keep it for themselves, it came down to the top court matchup between Kabbaj and Hu. The Aztec captured the first set 6-4, but came up short in the second, with Hu taking it 7-5. Kabbaj was able to swing the momentum back in her favor in the third set, clinching the match with a 6-3 win.
“Everybody loves trophies,” said head coach Peter Mattera. “We didn’t want to share the regular season championship, so that was a big win today. The key is now to go forward and come into next week and play three matches in three days. We need to show up ready to go and do everything within our power to make sure that we are locked in.”
Next up, the Aztecs will head to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Tournament next week. With a first round bye, they will take on the winner of No. 8 Wyoming vs. No. 9 Colorado State at 10 a.m. on Thursday. San Diego State enters the tournament as the reigning 2024 champions.
Doubles
1. Liisa Varul/Jo-Yee Chan (SDSU) def. Hanna Vinahradava/Nikol Mircheva (UNLV) 6-2
2. Yasmine Kabbaj/Gloria Alogo (SDSU) vs. Coco Zhao/Cindy Hu (UNLV) DNF 5-4
3. Zoe Olmos/Vesa Gjinaj (SDSU) def. Kaho Oyama/Sofiia Sokolvak (UNLV) 6-2
Singles
1. Yasmine Kabbaj (SDSU) vs. Cindy Hu (UNLV) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
2. Veronika Kliuch (UNLV) def. Jo-Yee Chan (SDSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Coco Zhao (UNLV) def. Gloria Alogo (SDSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Nikol Mircheva (UNLV) def. Zoe Olmos (SDSU) 6-3, 7-5
5. Liisa Varul (SDSU) def. Kaho Oyama (UNLV) 6-3, 6-3
6. Vesa Gjinaj (SDSU) def. Hanna Vinahradava (UNLV) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles: (3,1) Singles: (6,3,5,4,2,1)