Fresno State Athletics
Sainz And Winterhalter Advance To NCAA Doubles Quarterfinals
5/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 26, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State seniors Lucia Sainz and Katharina Winterhalter advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA doubles championships after beating Matias and Vermuelen of USC in three sets. The Bulldogs' seniors now qualify for All-America status for reaching the elite eight. Sainz and Winterhalter improved to 37-11 on the year with the win.
Sainz and Winterhalter won the first set 6-4. In the second set, the tandem trailed 5-1 before rallying to take a 6-5 lead. But USC knotted the score at six, then won 7-5 in the tiebreaker. But the Fresno State duo responded by dominating the third set 6-1.
"Katharina and Lucia really returned well today," said head coach Simon Thibodeau. "I think they won 11 of their last 13 games, and everything was better in the third set."
Sainz and Winterhalter will play on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against either Miami's doubles tandem and Maryland's duo.
