SURPRISE, Ariz. – Dominican women's tennis pulled off the upset of No. 7 seed Biola 4-1 in a come-from-behind victory Thursday at the PacWest Tennis Championships at Surprise Tennis and Racquet Club.
The Eagles (6-13) got out to a quick lead as Gaby Carvajal and Lilly McNeill won No. 2 doubles 6-1 over
Carolina Guerrero and
Hannah Lam-Truong of the Penguins (10-10). Brooke Fager and Colbeyshae Emery then gave the team doubles point to Biola as they edged out
Gina Dudley and
Audrey Rafols 6-4 on the top court.
Dominican shook off the disappointment of doubles as
Astrid Craig quickly claimed No. 6 singles 6-4, 6-3 over Amelia Kitts to tie the match 1-1. Guerrero kept the momentum going as she held off Brooke Fager for the 6-3, 6-4 win in No. 3 singles to give the Penguins the lead.
Zoe Coggins survived a 7-6 (4) first set before a perfect 6-0 second set victory over Carvajal put Dominican just a singles match away from a victory.
On the remaining three courts things were headed to a third set as
Haley Garcia was victorious 6-2 before dropping the second set 6-1 to Alex Mann. Dudley and Rafols both lost their first sets, but Dudley claimed a 7-5 second set victory to stave off the loss and Rafols pulled out a 6-4 victory in the second set at the top court. Rafols caught fire in the first set as she quickly went up 4-2 in the set when she broke serve for the 5-2 lead. Rafols wasted no time in the next game as she held serve to dispatch Emery before either of the final two matches could finish to hand Dominican its first victory in the PacWest Championships and over Biola since the 2018 season.