NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The UC Santa Cruz women's tennis team gave everything they had in a gritty Coast-to-Coast (C2C) Conference Championship match, but ultimately came up short against Christopher Newport, falling 4-1 in a fiercely competitive contest on Sunday morning. Sara Beckman and Natalie Sprenger were both named to the C2C All-Tournament team.

How It Happened
Doubles play set an early tone, with Christopher Newport grabbing the advantage. UCSC dropped tight matches at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, with both pairings fighting hard but unable to overcome early breaks. Melody Ghaffari and Chlue Wu dropped the No. 2 doubles match 6-3 while Meghana Damojipurapu and Sweden Van Houten fell 6-4 at No. 3. The No. 1 doubles match, featuring Sara Beckman and Natalie Sprenger, was unfinished with the teams locked at 4-4 when play was halted.

Sara Beckman and Meghana Damojipurapu fought through intense, three-set thrillers at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, that had fans on the edge of their seats.
Beckman started strong, taking the first set 6-2 before her opponent clawed back to take the next two sets, 6-3 and 6-4. Meanwhile, Damojipurapu battled through an even tighter affair. After claiming the opening set 6-2, she came within points of closing it out in the second but narrowly dropped a tiebreak, 7-6 (8). In the third set, she continued to fight but fell just short, 6-3.

The Slugs' lone point came from Natalie Sprenger at No. 4 singles. Sprenger delivered a composed and dominant performance, winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to keep UCSC in the hunt during the middle stages of the match.

In singles, Melody Ghaffari faced a tall task at No. 3, falling 6-2, 6-2 to give Christopher Newport their second point. After Sprenger's win pulled UCSC within one, CNU clinched the match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2, despite valiant efforts from Beckman and Damojipurapu.

Several matches remained unfinished after CNU clinched the match, including Chloe Wu's back-and-forth effort at No. 5 and Sweden Van Houten's match at No. 6