On May 7, the 15th-ranked UCSD women’s tennis team had their season come to an end with a 6-1 loss to Hawaii-Hilo in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Hilo, Hawaii.
Coming off a five-match winning streak, the Tritons were unable to muster the power to beat a tough Hawaii team to head to Florida for the NCAA Top 16 tournament. The Tritons, who lost 6-3 to Hawaii earlier in the season, had practiced hard throughout the week in order to prepare for a highly anticipated rematch.
The Tritons flew to Hawaii on May 5 but were unable to practice as much as they liked after being plagued by a few rain delays.
“Before we went to Hawaii, we were trying to decide on who to bring,” UCSD head coach Liz LaPlante said. “We had been traveling with ten girls throughout the season, but we knew that we would later run into the problem of being allowed to only travel with eight, which is an NCAA regulation.”
Two days after arriving to Hawaii, the Tritons finally had the chance to prove themselves against 10th-ranked Hawaii-Hilo. The match drew a large crowd of Vulcan supporters, including several fans who needed to be warned by officials.
The match began with two quick wins by Hawaii-Hilo in the doubles lineup. Hawaii-Hilo’s Estelle Vicquenault and Krystal Hangai defeated freshman Kristin Bronowicki and sophomore Tara Siddiqui, 8-2, and UCSD freshman Katie McKee and sophomore Leigh Roberts were unable to pull a game from Dorothee Beauvir and Tiana Lum-Tucker and lost 8-0.
Perhaps the highlight of the entire match against Hawaii-Hilo was at No. 1 doubles, senior Julie Westerman and junior Jasmin Dao played some of their best doubles all year and grabbed a huge win over Michiko Tanaka and Mai Fujii 8-5, to give the Tritons their only win.
The Tritons duo had previously lost to Tanaka and Fujii, 8-5, so had reason to be excited about the big win going into the singles matches.
“This was their best match all year,” LaPlante said. “They had great rallies and for Julie winning this doubles match was a great way to end her collegiate career.”
In the singles lineup, Westerman had a difficult match against nationally ranked Beauvir and was unable to muster up the strength to beat her opponent, losing 6-3, 6-1.
“Julie definitely played better than the score indicated. She had been working hard all month because she was not happy with her level of play and she definitely got it together for this match,” LaPlante said. “Her opponent was a very good player, but Julie played her well.”
No. 2 singles brought a very close three-set match between Dao and Fujii. Dao was able to pick up a quick first set with a 6-1 win over her opponent, but could not close out the match, and dropped the next two sets, 6-1, 6-4.
At No. 4, Roberts also had a close three-set match in a see-saw battle. Vicquenault won the first set, 6-2, but Roberts battled back to win the next set, 6-4, but lost the last set, 6-0. The final win for Hawaii-Hilo came at No. 6 singles, as McKee won the first set, 6-4, but was only able to pick up two more games for the rest of the match. The final score was 4-6, 6-0, 6-2.
The Tritons left the match with two unfinished matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles. Siddiqui, who played No. 3 singles, was leading her opponent, 7-6, 4-2, after having won the first set with a tiebreaker. Siddiqui played impressively despite a sore left wrist and elbow that left her unable to hit her regular backhand and forced her to use a slice backhand shot.
At No. 5 singles, Hilker was a point away from defeating Hangai when the match was called. Hilker played one of her best matches all year and had won the first set, 6-4, and was winning in the second, 6-5.
The two wins would have made the overall match score 6-3, had they finished.
“Overall, we played a whole lot tighter with Hawaii then we did last time,” LaPlante said. “Last time we lost all but one of our singles, so our singles lineup have improved a whole lot since then.”
A win over Hawaii would have sent the women to Florida for the NCAA Top 16 tournament. For the Tritons, the loss meant the close of the season. The team’s goal of being California Collegiate Athletic Association Champions came true and four of their players were placed on All-CCAA teams.
McKee was named the league’s Freshman of the Year after blazing a perfect 7-0 in league play as the No. 6 singles player. At No. 3 doubles, McKee posted a 6-1 doubles record. Roberts, Hilker, and Dao also joined McKee on the CCAA First Team. Roberts, who played No. 3 singles, posted a perfect 8-0 record in league play as did Hilker who switched between No. 4 and No. 5 singles.
“It’s hard to pinpoint just one girl that really stood out on this team, though,” LaPlante said. “No one stood out, it was just a great group effort, and everyone shared a part of every win.”
Dao was 7-1 at No. 2 singles, and together with Westerman, the two went 7-1 during the season at No. 1 doubles. Westerman and McKee were also given the honors of Player of the Week in league during the season. Also honored by her colleagues was LaPlante, who was named CCAA Coach of the Year.
Another reason for the Tritons huge success this season was assistant coach Timmer Wiling, who helped improve the team’s strategy and doubles play considerably.
“Timmer really helped to motivate the women and work on their game,” LaPlante said. “I have to give him a lot of credit.”
After this year, the Tritons will lose three seniors, including captains Westerman and Kristina Jansen and Sarah Bahlert. The doubles lineup will have to readjust as well because sophomores Allison and Jenna Ishii will take a year off to study abroad for the upcoming year.
One of the biggest highlights for the girls during the season was beating Hawaii Pacific 6-3, which clinched their spot at No. 3 in the conference. The Tritons ended their season with an overall 18-0 record, with the final rankings coming out in a couple weeks.
“Overall this was a great group of girls and I had a lot of fun with this team,” LaPlante said. “The girls got along so well, when they would see each other at practice they were always chatting away and they motivated each other on the court. They truly cared about each other; the team chemistry was something that all coaches hope for and it was so nice to see how they have evolved as a team throughout the season. It’s sad to see the season come to an end.”
