Losing is hard, especially when you are one of the best teams in the country. After a tough loss against Cal Poly Pomona, the UCSD women’s tennis team followed with a powerful win against Grand Canyon University on Feb. 22. UCSD continued dominant play when it hosted CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 27. The Tritons won all three of their doubles matches and did not drop a single game in four of their singles matches against the Roadrunners.
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Junior co-captain Julie Westerman and freshman Jenna Ishii teamed up again at the No. 1 doubles spot against Runners Katalin Nagy and Julia Ikonnikova. Westerman and Jenna Ishii won the tight decision 8-5. At the No. 2 doubles spot, co-captain Kristina Jansen and Allison Ishii defeated Brenda Knick and Yuri Sawai 8-1, while the No. 3 Tritons doubles team of Leigh Roberts and Sarah Bahlert defeated Lydia Sanchez and Pam Tivnon in a perfect 8-0 match.
During the singles matches, Nagy and Ikonnikova both came back from their doubles defeat to win their singles matches. The match played on the No. 1 singles court was a long, tough match, and Westerman did not let Nagy win easily. Westerman won the first set, but Nagy defeated her in the second and third to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. At No. 2 singles, Ikonnikova defeated Jansen in two sets by 6-2, 6-3.
None of the four remaining singles players let their Bakersfield counterparts win a game point. No. 3 singles player Marissa Hilker defeated Knick 6-0, 6-0; No. 4 player Roberts defeated Sanchez 6-0, 6-0; No. 5 player Bahlert defeated Sawai 6-0, 6-0; and at No. 6 singles, Jenna Ishii defeated Tivnon 6-0, 6-0.
Last year, the Tritons defeated the Roadrunners 8-1.
Nagy, who plays at the No. 1 doubles and singles slots, was named the second recipient of California Collegiate Athletic Association’s women’s tennis player of the week for the week of Feb. 9.
CSU Bakersfield has not won a meet all year, and falls to 0-5 in dual match play and 0-3 against California Collegiate Athletic Association rivals. UCSD improved its record to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA.
The Tritons then faced a doubleheader weekend against CCAA rivals Sonoma State and UC Davis on March 1 and March 2. Results of the matches were unavailable at press time.
