The UCSD women’s tennis team dropped its second match of the year to Azusa Pacific University on Feb. 4, shortly following the Tritons’ impressive season-opening victory over Grand Canyon University on Feb. 1.
The Tritons came into their matchup against the Cougars with confidence, fresh off a 9-0 sweep of the Antelopes to start the year.
However, Azusa Pacific put up much more of a fight than the Antelopes, winning five of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches to win the meet 7-2.
The Tritons’ only singles victory came from freshman Tessa Tran, who won her first game 7-5 and took a 1-0 lead in the second before her opponent was forced to forfeit due to an injury.
In doubles competition, the duo of freshman Ina Dan and junior Liz Brown was the only combination strong enough to beat the Cougar pairs, earning an 8-5 victory.
Despite the disappointment following the loss in their second match, the Tritons came into their opening match against Grand Canyon on Feb. 1 with very high expectations, claiming the No. 10 ranking before playing a regular season competition.
The team lived up to its hype, dominating its Antelope opponents, 9-0, on the way to its first win of the year. It came even easier than the Tritons expected, as Grand Canyon arrived with only five players, forcing the Antelopes to forfeit the No. 3 double and No. 6 singles matches.
With an easy lead, the Tritons took to the court and expanded on their advantage by sweeping the final seven matches, two doubles and five singles, to earn the 9-0 victory.
In the first singles match, UCSD junior Marsha Malinow took on Grand Canyon’s Medini Sharma. After dropping the first set 5-7, Malinow came back strong, taking the second set 6-2 to force a decisive third set. Malinow was determined to complete her comeback, but Sharma would not give in. The two went back and forth, with Malinow finally closing out the match with a 10-8 win in the tiebreaking set.
Malinow’s match was the toughest of the day, as the rest of the Tritons dominated their Golden Eagle opponents. Junior Katie McKee was all business, taking care of her adversary Lindsay Hardy, 6-4, 6-1.
Dan looked impressive as well, shutting out Lauren Eutsler, 6-0, 6-0. Dan’s fellow freshman Tran also dominated her opponent, Gloria Slakoff, 6-0, 6-0, while junior Kristin Bronowicki finished off the singles matches with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Heidi Schnizlein.
With the Tritons’ singles players doing their part, the two doubles partners of Malinow with Marissa Hilker and McKee with Bronowicki paralleled the success, winning both matches with ease. Malinow and Hilker took out the Antelopes’ combination of Sharma and Hardy, 8-0, while McKee and Bronowicki topped Eutsler and Schnizlein, 8-1.
The Tritons will face tougher tests later on in the season, including their next match against Point Loma on Feb. 8.
