Two up, two down — that’s the story so far for UCSD women’s tennis, which kicked off its 2005 spring season by hosting two home matches and crushing the competition, defeating both Grand Canyon University on Feb. 3 and Point Loma University on Feb. 1, each by match scores of 7-2.
The Triton women, led by head coach Liz LaPlante, are the No. 11 Division II school in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. In the California Collegiate Athletic Association, the Tritons are ranked first after finishing last season 10-0 against conference opponents.
On Feb. 3, the Tritons faced off against the Grand Canyon Antelopes at the Northview Tennis Courts. Grand Canyon, a former member of the CCAA, forfeited two games — the sixth singles spot and the third doubles spot — because of an insufficient number of players. The Tritons took the gift, but offered no such charity in the other seven matchups, winning five of them. The No. 1 doubles spot provided the most exciting match of the day, pitting UCSD’s junior Tara Siddiqui and sophomore Marsha Malinow up against Grand Canyon’s Medini Sharma and Nikita Bhardwaj, with the Tritons coming out on top in a nail-biting tiebreak, 9-8 (7-5). The Triton’s victory in the other doubles matchup was no contest, as sophomores Katie McKee and Kristin Bronowicki defeated the Antelopes’ Shawna Young and Lindsay Hardy, 8-1.
“I’m so excited about playing with [Malinow],” Siddiqui said. “I think we have great potential for the season. We have great chemistry, and the footwork is there, we just need to work on the finesse.”
In singles action, the Antelopes picked up their only two wins of the match at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, with Sharma defeating Malinow and Bhardwaj defeating junior Marissa Hilker. The Tritons won at the No. 3, 4 and 5 spots, with junior Leigh Roberts, McKee and Bronowicki all winning in straight sets.
The Tritons’ crosstown rival, Point Loma, also visited on Feb. 1. Once again, the No. 1 doubles spot provided the most exciting drama of the day, featuring Siddiqui and Malinow against Point Loma’s Ashley Strimple and Anita Sieczka. This match also went to a 17th-game tiebreak, but this time Siddiqui and Malinow went down, 8-9 (7-9). Strimple also had a hand in the Tritons’ only other loss of the day, defeating senior Jasmin Dao at the No. 1 singles spot, 6-3, 6-0. The other seven matches ended with Tritons in the win column. Malinow, Hilker, Roberts, McKee and Bronowicki all won their singles matches, and the doubles teams of Bronowicki/McKee and Dao/ Hilker also downed their opponents for a final tally of 7-2 in favor of the Tritons.
LaPlante has high hopes about the pairing of Siddiqui and Malinow, who paired up for the first time this season.
“Tara and Marsha played two great matches together,” LaPlante said. “The competition was strong, but they played really well in both, and when everybody is playing that well, tiebreaks happen.”
The Tritons’ goal for the season is to repeat their perfect performance last season in conference play, and to go undefeated. The team also has high hopes to make a name for itself in national competition by claiming a spot in the NCAA Division II Nationals in May. The team’s bid last year was cut short by Hawaii-Hilo at the regional tournament, and the Tritons have an April 5 date with their rivals circled on their calendars. Other strong regional competition includes BYU Hawaii, the top team in the country, and Hawaii Pacific.
“We got within one match of making it to nationals last year,” sophomore Allison Legakis said. “We’ve gotten a taste of it, and will work hard to take the next step this year.”
Even with these lofty goals, Siddiqui urges everybody to maintain focus.
“Before we worry about nationals, we have to take care of first things first,” said Siddiqui, one of three team captains. “That means taking care of business in our conference, then at regionals. But no matter what happens, I hope we all support each other. I think that this team, on any given day, can rise up and become one of the best teams in the nation. It’s a matter of how our team dynamics and individual confidence play out. The mental game is the most important part of tennis.”
The team has 11 returning players and two first-year players.
“Our top six are very experienced,” LaPlante said. “Our sophomores have improved a lot, and the freshmen have a considerable amount of junior tennis tournament experience, being highly ranked in Northern California, so I feel we have a lot of experience and potential.”
The Tritons will travel this weekend to Cal Poly Pomona for their first conference match of the season on Feb. 12, and will return home the following day to host UC Davis.
