The Fresno State women’s tennis team tied its season-best four-game win streak on Saturday at the Wathen Tennis Center in dominant fashion.
On a day in which seniors Melissa McQueen, Olga Kirpicheva and Bianca Modoc were honored in between their final home game of their Fresno State careers — and of the season — the Bulldogs came out flying, sweeping Colorado State, 7-0.
The Bulldogs finished the weekend with back-to-back sweeps (they won against Air Force 7-0 on Friday) — a feat the Bulldogs last achieved during the 2008-09 season.
“It was a great weekend,” Fresno State coach Ryan Stotland said. “We came out and we beat a really good Wyoming team — they made it close. I think we learned a lot from that.
“The last two matches the girls really came out, and beating anybody 7-0 is tough and we made some pretty good teams look not so good. That’s hard to do. The girls were very motivated today.”
The Bulldogs got off to a fast start in doubles play, with all three seniors taking the court.
Kirpecheva and Aishwarya Agrawal won their match 8-1 at the No. 3 spot, Modoc and Sophie Watts grabbed an 8-4 doubles win over Colorado State’s Natalie Heffron and Adriana Wojakowska on Court 2.
McQueen and Rana Sherif Ahmed — who clinched the Bulldogs’ 4-3 win over Wyoming in singles play two days earlier — nabbed a decisive 8-2 win over Kendall Heitzner and Kaley Schultz at the top spot.
McQueen, who has seen her fair share of decisive victories in doubles play this season, said this doubles win “felt extra good because it really gave our team momentum going into singles.”
She said: “It’s great. We have worked so hard all semester, and we finally got our two sweeps these last two matches. It’s the best to have them bothat home.”
The Bulldogs’ conquest didn’t stop at doubles play. Fresno State swept singles play, with Kirpecheva (6-1, 6-0) being the first to finish her match at the No. 5 spot.
McQueen, second in the Bulldogs’ singles ladder, won her match against Heffron 6-2, 6-4.
Two matches were decided in the third set — with Modoc prevailing at the No. 4 singles match against Wojakowska and Agrawal winning out at the top spot.
“The seniors did a great job,” Stotland said. “Olga was first off, and Olga hasn’t played too many matches. So I’m very proud that she cruised through her match.
“Bianca, obviously, went over in the third set. She was down and she never gave up, which is tough, especially on Senior Day. I wanted to see her go out with a win, and she played tough even though (her opponent) played really well.”
For the seniors, it marked the last time they would play before the Fresno State home crowd.
“It was bittersweet because it was our last match ever at home,” McQueen said. “But at the same time we had so much support from the fans. We had a great senior sendoff so it was really nice to be at home for this sweep and to finally get our two sweeps.”
Fresno State (12-5, 5-0 MWC) has four road conference games left before the Mountain West championships in late April. The Bulldogs finished their home campaign this season 7-1.
The Bulldogs will face San Diego State (14-4, 3-0) up next on Saturday. The Aztecs currently are currently on a seven-game win streak.
“I think we’re getting better,” Stotland said.
“The hard part of sweeping is everybody has to stay focused. Everybody has to win. Everybody has a down day. The ones that didn’t play great still found a way to win.”
