The UCSD women’s tennis team faced two schools to the north last weekend. The Tritons easily handled Sonoma State 8-1 but fell to top-ranked UC Davis, 7-2.

Sonoma State was ranked third in the California Collegiate Athletic Association going into the match, while the Tritons were ranked second. On paper this looked like a good match, but head coach Liz LaPlante wasn’t fooled.

“”I wasn’t surprised at our easy win against Sonoma,”” LaPlante said. “”We probably lost a few more games than we should have, but it was very windy and that equalized things a little.””

The match started out well for the Tritons, as two of the three doubles teams won their pro sets. Both No. 1 and No. 3 doubles won 8-6 while Melisa Liao and Julie Westerman lost 2-8 at No. 2 doubles. LaPlante was especially impressed with the play of her No. 1 doubles team, Lyndsey Tadlock and Stephanie Moriarty.

“”The best match was No. 1 doubles with Tadlock and Moriarty,”” LaPlante said. “”They played the best they have played together.””

In singles the Tritons continued to roll, sweeping all six spots. The most interesting match was at No. 5 doubles, where Westerman won the first set in a tie-breaker but looked to have lost her edge in the second set, where she lost 1-6. Despite no longer having the momentum, Westerman fought on and quickly took control of the third set and went on to win 6-2.

Riding that wave of emotion, the Tritons moved on to UC Davis.

“”We knew they were going to be tough,”” LaPlante said. “”I was disappointed with the overall 7-2 loss, because the match was actually a lot closer than it appears.””

The Tritons got off on the wrong foot by losing all three doubles pro sets by a score of 4-8.

“”We were out-played in doubles,”” LaPlante said. “”They were a lot more aggressive and served and returned better.””

Even though the Tritons won only two of the six singles matches, they had a chance to win three more.

No. 1 singles was never in double for the Aggies. Jill Howard quickly picked apart O’Neil 6-1, 6-3. No. 2 singles, however, was a different story.

Tadlock had already won the first set and had a 5-2 lead. Just when she looked like she would serve out the match, her opponent got hot and reeled off 11 straight games to take the match in three sets.

Liao won in straight sets at No. 3 singles, while her doubles partner, Westerman, did the same at No. 5.

Kristina Jansen split the first two sets with her opponent at No. 4 singles but lost in an extended tie-breaker, losing the match.

The same thing happened to Mary Hung at No. 6 singles.

The Tritons next face Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday at 11 a.m.