Courtesy of Boise State Athletics – 

LAS VEGAS –Masa Viriant’s improbable rally from 5-1 down in the third set clinched Boise State a 4-3 upset over the No. 1-seeded and 47th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs Friday afternoon in the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Tennis Championship semifinal round at Las Vegas.

The victory over San Diego State advances Boise State to Saturday’s championship match versus No. 3 seed UNLV. The match is scheduled for noon (Mountain).

Trailing by one following the doubles competition, Boise State found itself in a 2-0 hole after losing the first singles match of the day.

Trailing 2-0, Boise State pulled even following victories on court two, where Maya Dutta won in straight sets, 7-6(7), 6-2, and court four, where Paula Schaeffer won in three sets, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

Zdena Safarova gave Boise State a 3-2 advantage with her three-set 6-2, 7-6(1), 7-5 win at No. 1 singles, moving the Broncos within one of the team victory.

After San Diego State had tied the match at 3-3, that left the decisive point to the No. 6 singles match, where Viriant would pull off a heroic victory. Down 5-1 in the third set, the freshman from Slovenia rallied with five straight wins to take the lead 6-5. She eventually pulled off the dramatic come-from-behind win in a tiebreaker 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2) to clinch the match for the Blue and Orange. 

Notables

  • With the win, Boise State advances to its first-ever MW Championship match.
  • All seven of Maya Dutta’s wins against conference opponents have come in straight sets.
  • Zdena Safarova won her 13th consecutive match and remains undefeated against conference opponents.
  • Safarova picked up her 19th win of the season from the No. 1 position, breaking Gaye McManus’s (1996-97) program record for the most victories from the top spot on the season.
  • Safarova has won 91.7% (33-3) of her singles matches between the fall and spring seasons, which is currently the highest single-season win percentage in program history. She holds a lead over Tiffany Coll’s 90% win percentage set in 2006.
  • With the win, it is the second time in three seasons that Boise State has beaten San Diego State in the MW tournament, and just the fourth victory overall against the Aztecs.

Box Score

Boise State (18-5) def. No. 47 San Diego State (17-7)
Doubles (Order of finish: 1,3,2)

  1. Chan/Varul (SDSU) def. Dutta/Safarova (BOI) 6-3
  2. Kabbaj/Martinache (SDSU) def. Ryan Kershner/ Lorelyz Marruffo (BOI) 6-3
  3. Schafer/Shah (BOI) def. Piqueras/Vesa Gjinaj (SDSU) 6-3

Singles (Order of finish: 5,2,4,1,3,6)

  1. Zdena Safarova (BOI) def. Yasmine Kabbaj (SDSU) 6-2, 6-7(1), 7-5
  2. Maya Dutta (BOI) def. Jo-Yee Chin (SDSU) 7-6(7), 6-2
  3. Gloria Alogo Piqueras (SDSU) def. Bhakti Shah (BOI) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(4)
  4. Paula Schaefer (BOI) def. Ninon Martinache (SDSU) 6-3, 1-6, 7-5
  5. Zoe Olmos (SDSU) def. Ariadna Briones Ginesta (BOI) 6-2, 6-1
  6. Masa Viriant (BOI) def. Liisa Varul (SDSU) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(2)