SURPRISE, Ariz. – Dominican women's tennis swept Metro State 4-0 Wednesday to advance to the quarterfinals of the PacWest Tennis Championships at Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.
 
The No. 8 seeded Penguins (12-6) got off to a strong start in doubles play as Maria Gavrilov and Haley Garcia built an early advantage and cruised a 6-2 victory. The Roadrunners (10-12) leveled the doubles portion a minute later as Lilly Stienemeier and Emily Hafner won 6-2 in No. 2 doubles.
 
The team point came down to the top court which saw the score seesaw between Audrey Rafols and Gina Dudley of Dominican and Kim Heddes and Courtenay Leonard of Metro State. Rafols and Dudley grabbed an early 2-0 advantage but Heddes and Leonard won three consecutive games to take a 4-3 lead in the match. Rafols and Dudley regrouped and closed out on their own three-game win streak to take the match 6-4 and give the Penguins the 1-0 lead as a team.
 
With advancing on the line, the singles matches tightened up as the two teams fought for a spot in the quarterfinals. Carolina Guerrero gave Dominican a strong start as she quickly won the first set 6-2, but Leonard appeared to flip the scrip in the second set as she took a 4-2 lead. Guerrero locked in and battled back winning the next five games to take the 6-4 victory in the second set to clinch the match victory. Astrid Craig enjoyed one of the less dramatic matches of the day at No. 6 singles as she polished off a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Monica Guarin minutes after Guerrero finished to put the Penguins a point from clinching.
 
While Dominican won the first set in all the singles matches, the second sets continued to be a tightly contested battle of wills with the Roadrunners looking to stave off an early end to their season. Rafols took on Hafner on the top court with Hafner taking the early 3-0 lead in the first set, but Rafols shook off the defeats to win the next three games and tie the set 3-3. Hafner won the next set to inch closer to victory, but Rafols would have none of it as she slammed the door with another three-game winning streak to take the 6-4 win in the opening set. Rafols got the early advantage in the second set going up 2-0, but Hafner refused to go down without a fight winning the next three games to take the 3-2 lead. The remainder of the games remained close with Rafols coming through in the clutch time and again as she reeled off four-consecutive game victories to win 6-3 and clinch the team victory.
 
Dominican will now face No. 1 seeded team in the championships in Point Loma Nazarene University in Thursday's quarterfinals beginning at 1 p.m. MST at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex.