KALAMAZOO -- The Western Michigan women's tennis team fought all afternoon, but fell one point short against new Mid-American Conference champion Miami, 4-3, in front of a season-high 203 people at Sorensen Courts on Friday afternoon.

The Broncos (18-7, 5-2 MAC) fall into a second place tie with Buffalo, while the RedHawks (12-6, 7-0 MAC) claim the league title and top seed going into next weekend's MAC Tournament in Bowling Green, Ohio.

The match opened with a hotly contested doubles point as juniors Emily Dudzik and Yumi Matsuto captured an 8-3 decision at No. 1 doubles to improve to 11-6 at the top spot this season. Miami came back and won, 8-5, at No. 3 doubles to put the pressure on No. 2 doubles. Senior Kerstin Pahl and sophomore Amanda Moccia led 5-3 against Miami, but the RedHawks clawed back to take a 6-5 lead. The Broncos evened the match at six-all and seven-all, but Miami eventually pulled ahead, 9-7, to hand Pahl and Moccia their first loss of the season.

The RedHawks quickly came out and won four of the six first sets to open singles play and eventually built a 3-0 lead after wins at No. 2 and No. 4 singles.

The Broncos wouldn't go away as Kerstin Pahl handed Monica Gorny her first conference loss of the season with a 6-3, 6-2 victory at No. 1 singles. Pahl's victory was her 62nd of the season, tying a WMU school record for overall wins in a season also held by Noriko Saruta. Saruta was on Pahl's court helping coach her to victory over Gorny.

Amanda Moccia trailed 5-1 in the first set against Brintney Larson, but came back to fall 6-4 in the opening frame. Despite the loss, Moccia had momentum and went on to storm past Larson 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 to make the match 3-2.

Ashley Moccia easily took the first set, 6-1, against Stephanie Danesis at No. 3 singles, but then Danesis came back to win 6-2 in the second set. Danesis then built a 3-1 lead in the decisive third set until Moccia came back to even the score. The two players went back-and-forth and eventually reached a third set tiebreaker. Moccia led in the early going, but Danesis came back to win 1-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) to give Miami the victory.

The match wasn't over as Matsuto was making a comeback of her own at No. 6 singles. Matsuto led 4-1 in the first set before losing the next five games and then trailed in the second set, in addition to battling leg cramps. Matsuto continued to fight through the pain to finish the comeback and defeat Reikie Honiball 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (7) to account for the final margin.

The Broncos wrap up the regular season with Senior Day on Saturday at 1 p.m. against Ball State. A brief ceremony honoring Bronco seniors Kerstin Pahl and Ashley Moccia will take place before the match.

Miami 4, Western Michigan 3
Apr 17, 2009 at Kalamazoo, Mich. (Sorensen Courts)