UC San Diego women’s tennis (5-11, 1-4 Big West) fell in a gritty 5-2 loss against Cal Poly (8-7, 3-0 Big West) at the Northview Tennis Courts on March 7, despite a standout performance by No. 1 freshman Olivia Allegre. Although they began conference play in a three-match slump, the Tritons displayed a competitive hand at home on Saturday, forcing the Mustangs into a tiebreaker or third set in five of six singles matches. Although the 5-2 final score suggested a clear victory for Cal Poly, the Tritons were just a few critical points from earning a hard-fought win.
The Tritons began the match in a frustrating yet familiar way, narrowly losing their No. 3 and No. 1 doubles matches. At the No. 3 doubles, freshman Carling Allaye-Chan and graduate student Hana Gamracy initially forged a 3-1 lead before the Mustangs decidedly turned it around to take the first doubles win 6-3. At the No. 2 doubles, freshman Alisa Lansky and sophomore Allison Lian built a grueling lead of 6-5, but left their match unfinished as the Mustangs clinched their points in the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.
So far this conference season, the Tritons are unfortunately no strangers to losing their hold on an initial lead.
“You can see doubles make a big difference,” head coach Sebastian Bader said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “I think that every match in conference is extremely close, and you can see it by our results. We’ve now unfortunately have hit a path where we’ve lost a couple 4-3s, a couple 4-2s, and 5-2s. … I think, the more we can focus on the small battles in front of us, eventually, it’s gonna come our way.”
With no wins in the doubles matches, the Tritons showcased their resilience by battling to three sets in four of the six singles they played on Saturday. At the No. 1 singles, Allegre dominated her opponent in the morning’s most noteworthy win. Facing a very vocal senior, Allegre moved past her close first-set 6-4 loss to dominate the second set 6-2. Last on the team to finish her match, Allegre took yet another win to end the third set 6-3 after a series of arduous rallies.
“I mentally prepared myself through the week, knowing what was going to be on the other side of the court,” Allegre said in a postgame interview with The Guardian. “I think just my mental preparation and, like, my expectations for myself helped me a lot in the end.”
Though Allegre picked up a hard-fought win, adding to her 5-0 winning streak for singles in the Big West, only one other Triton was able to down their opponent in an individual match. At the No. 3 singles, Allaye-Chan played a demanding match, winning her first-set tiebreaker 7-6.
“Honestly, [after the tiebreaker], I wanted to bear down a bit and make sure she wasn’t able to get an early lead in the second, and to raise my level so I wouldn’t give her the possibility of coming back,” Allaye-Chan said in a postgame interview with The Guardian.
Allaye-Chan maintained her advantage and took the second set 6-3.
Despite the two close defeats, the Mustangs clinched wins at the No. 6, No. 5, No. 4, and No. 2 singles. Notably, Gamracy started off on the lower end, drastically losing her first set 6-2. She picked up momentum, gaining a win in her second set by a substantial 6-1 lead, followed by a tough battle in set three. She fought hard but was unable to hold onto that lead, losing the third set 6-4.
Despite Cal Poly’s win, Bader acknowledged the growth of his underclassmen.
“I think development with tennis is trying to think it’s a really long-term process … making sure that we are not necessarily worried about every win, but making sure that we’re continuing to get better,” Bader said.
This loss was the first of a four-game losing streak for the Tritons, who suffered defeats against Dartmouth and Santa Clara. UCSD will hope to shake its malaise against Rice on Friday.
