Pomarolli Clinches Come From Behind 4-3 Win At Pacific For ISU

STOCKTON, Calif. – Down 3-1 in the match, Illinois State (8-3) rallied to tie the match against Pacific (3-9) and senior Silvia Pomarolli clinched the win with a three-set thriller at the No. 2 spot to give the Redbirds a 4-3 win against the Tigers Saturday afternoon at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center in Stockton, California.

Pacific took the early advantage in the match, sweeping all three doubles matches to earn the double point. As things moved into singles, the Redbirds quickly picked up a point at the No. 4 spot as Nicole Iosio earned a win after a retirement by Pacific's Pauline Lerminiaux. However, the Tigers would then pick up wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots to take a 3-1 advantage in the match.

ISU got back into the match thanks to a pair of three-set wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. Nuria Sanz won the first set but then dropped the second to force a deciding third set against Nahreen Cheam. She would go on to win the third set and pick up a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victory to get the Birds back in the contest. At the No. 6 spot, Emma Lindh rallied after losing the first set to Leyanne Hirota and won the final two sets to pick up the win by a final of 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

With the match tied at 3-3, it was up to Pomarolli at the No. 2 spot to decide the match for ISU. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, she rallied to win the final two sets against Rayna Sugai to come away with a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1 victory to secure the team win for the Redbirds.

The Redbirds continue their road trip on Sunday in San Rafael against Dominican at 2 p.m. CT. They will then wrap up their California trip on Thursday, when they head to Turlock to take on Stanislaus State at 3 p.m. CT at the Stan State Tennis Courts. 

FINAL SCORE: Illinois State (4), Pacific (3)

Doubles: 
No. 1 Indiya McLeod/Rayna Sugai (PAC) def. Lana Caculovic/Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) 7-5
No. 2 Cindy Ung/Leyanne Hirota (PAC) def. Nicole Iosio/Nuria Sanz (ILS) 6-2
No. 3 Pauline Lerminiaux/Nahreen Cheam (PAC) def. Vittoria Benedetti/Emma Lindh (ILS) 7-5

Singles:
No. 1 Indiya McLeod (PAC) def. Lana Caculovic (ILS) 6-4, 6-4
No. 2 Silvia Pomarolli (ILS) def. Rayna Sugai (PAC) 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 Cindy Ung (PAC) def. Vittoria Benedetti (ILS) 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 Nicole Iosio (ILS) def. Pauline Lerminiaux (PAC) 5-2 retired
No. 5 Nuria Sanz (ILS) def. Nahreen Cheam (PAC) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 
No. 6 Emma Lindh (ILS) def. Leyanne Hirota (PAC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

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