KUTZTOWN, PA (April 21, 2010) – The Kutztown University women's tennis team will face Western Division champion California (Pa.) University in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinals at Bloomsburg University Friday morning starting at 11 a.m. (PSAC TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION)
The Golden Bears (10-9 overall) and the Vulcans (19-5) played each other in the fall, with Cal earning a 9-0 win. Cal enters this matchup having won six consecutive matches.
Kutztown finished the regular season second in the Eastern Division. This is Kutztown's sixth consecutive trip to the PSAC playoffs. The three-time defending PSAC champion Vulcans won their sixth-straight PSAC West title and is ranked first in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region.
Kutztown will lean heavily on senior Rohini Das (Kolkata, INDIA/), its top singles and doubles performer. She is 17-4 in singles matches for the season. In Tuesday's PSAC quarterfinals, Das claimed a 6-0, 6-0 victory over WCU's Brittany Counts to win her seventh consecutive match at No.1 singles. Within the PSAC conference, she boasts an impressive 7-0 record.
When Das is paired with Ridhima Borooah (Guwahati, INDIA/), the duo leads the team with an 11-7 record. In the last 10 performances, the pair has only dropped three matches. In singles, Borooah is 9-8 overall and 5-2 against PSAC opponents. Sabrina Arnaud (Quebec, CANADA/) is second on the team with 11victories.
California's top performers have been Jutta Bornefeld, Axelle Fernandez, Jade Pondicas and Alina Stanila. Bornefeld leads the team with a 20-1 overall singles record. Pondicas is 18-2, Fernandez is 16-3 and Stanila is 27-8 overall. All the women are 5-0 within the conference.
In the last five years of PSAC playoffs, California and Kutztown have met only twice on the courts. During 2005 playoffs, Kutztown beat California 5-1 to advance to the PSAC championship match. The win also set the KU school record for number of wins in a season of 12.
The following year, the Vulcans earned a measure of revenge in the semifinal match to advance to the championship round after a 5-4 win over the Golden Bears.
Bloomsburg will meet Slippery Rock in the other women's semifinal tennis match also at 11 a.m. The two winners will meet for the championship Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Meanwhile, the two semifinal losers will play each other Saturday morning, also at the same time.
--KU--
