SDSU’s Hawke, Storto Fall in the Semifinals of Tennis Tournament

The improbable run of San Diego State’s Sue Hawke and Nicole Storto in the Riviera All-American Tennis Championships ended in Sunday’s semifinals, with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to William & Mary’s Michele Mair and Karen van der Merwe at the Riviera Tennis Club.

Hawke and Storto, who needed to win three qualifying matches just to reach the 16-team main draw, trailed when Storto had her serve broken in the match’s opening game. Hawke and Storto scored a break off van der Merwe in the sixth game, evening the match, but trailed again when Hawke had her service broken in the next game. The teams remained on serve for the rest of the set.

The teams exchanged service breaks in the third and fourth games of the second set. Mair and van der Merwe took the lead for good by breaking Storto in the seventh game.

In a consolation doubles semifinal match, Julie McDeon and Laura Richards of USD lost to Duke’s Christine Neuman and Susan Sommerville, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-2).