No. 18 UCSD opened up its season against Cal State Fullerton and University of San Diego this past weekend. Against some good Division-I opposition, UCSD could not pull out the wins, falling against both teams 6–1.
The UCSD women’s tennis team started its spring season with a 6–1 loss against Cal State Fullerton Wednesday at Titan Courts in Fullerton.
CSUF (1–0) is unranked in Division-I as UCSD (0–1) is ranked 18th in NCAA Division II.,
The Tritons’ only victory came at No. 4 singles as freshman Alexandra Weil beat freshman Masako Makiba in two sets, 6–3 and 6–4.
The 28th-ranked singles player in the country, UCSD’s senior Kyra Scott, extended her No. 1 match against freshman Alexis Valenzuela to a tiebreaker, but ended up falling 6–0, 3–6, 10–5; Cal State Fullerton won the other four singles contests in straight sets.
The doubles team of Scott and sophomore Britta Mosser, ranked No. 16, played for the Tritons in the first spot where they were defeated, 7–5, by freshmen Camille De Leon and Sarah Nuno. Weil and freshman teammate Madison Hale, the No. 3 doubles team, made it a close match, but were beaten 7–6 (4–0) by Makiba and freshman Karla Portalatin.
The Tritons then played another tough road match against a Division- I opponent on Saturday, traveling to the other side of town to USD.
The women’s tennis won the double point against USD, winning two out of three matches, but could not muster much in the singles, ultimately losing the game 6-1 to the USD Saturday at the Hogan Tennis Center.
The Tritons’ point came after wins in the No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles. Junior Shannon Theisen and freshman Ashley Chao played a complete game in the No. 2 doubles to sweep senior Marta Stojanovic and senior Shani Blecher, 6–0. In the No. 3 doubles, the two freshmen Alexandra Weil and Madison Hale got the win in convincing fashion, defeating freshman Maria Torres Draxl and junior Colomba DiFilippo, 6–3.
UCSD’s number one double suffered another defeat, as they could not get anything going against senior Dana Oppinger and sophomore Drew Spinosa from USD. The final score was 6–2 in favor of USD.
All six of UCSD’s singles players lost, including Scott, who lost 6–2 and 6–0 to Stojanovic at the No. 1 spot in singles.
UCSD opens its home season on Jan. 27 when it hosts San Diego Christian at 2 p.m.