Women’s Tennis Comeback at Gonzaga Falls Short

SPOKANE, Wash. – Air Force Women's Tennis, taking on Gonzaga in its second match in as many days on the road, nearly completed a steep comeback against the Bulldogs, but ultimately fell, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at the Stevens Center in Spokane.

Air Force fell into a 3-0 hole after dropping just its second doubles point of the season and falling on lines four and one; Sofia Mavor and Alexis Odom, after both playing out a three-set thriller against Eastern Washington the day before, fell in straight sets to threaten a 4-0 shutout.

But the Falcons, proving their resilience as a team on more than one occasion so far this year, came back.

Freshman Shivaani Selvan, on line five, downed sophomore Ella Nielsen, 6-3, 6-1, handing Nielsen her first loss this spring while finishing the weekend 2-0 and improving to 4-2 on the season; Junior Arianna Van Houweling earned her fourth-consecutive win, defeating Rose Hayes, 6-2, 6-4, on court two, and sophomore Nadia Kojonroj bagged her fifth-straight win, shutting out Safien Boulonois in a third set to win her first three-set match of the season and lifting Air Force to a tie with Gonzaga at 3-all.

The day would be decided on court six, where sophomore Giovanna Sanchirico was taking on 2-0 sophomore Brooke Bittner.

Sanchirico, after falling 6-2 in her opening set, battled to 6-all in the second to force a set tiebreak. The sophomore took a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak, before Bittner climbed back, winning five-straight to earn a 6-5 advantage. Sanchirico then won three-straight to win the tiebreak, 8-6 and force a third set. In the third, Sanchirico, after going down early in the third set, played back to a 5-4 lead, but Bittner responded to tie it back up and ultimately win the final two points to secure a 7-5 set win and clinch the match for Gonzaga.

"I'm just so proud of this team's heart, maturity, and fight," head coach Taylor Hollander said. "There is much more to come."

Up Next:
Air Force Women's Tennis (4-3, 0-0 MW) faces a three-match gauntlet in Florida, taking on UCF (Feb. 14) and Navy (Feb. 15) at the USTA National Campus, and Florida State (Feb. 16) in Tallahassee. The Falcons are back in Cadet East Gym on Feb. 22, opening a three-match homestand hosting Montana State.

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