Meatloaf said two out of three ain’t bad, which means that the UCSD women’s tennis team should be extatic with its three wins and one loss last week against Point Loma Nazarene University and in California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament competition.
The Tritons started out the week with an easy victory over Point Loma on Wednesday. The 7-2 win was even more impressive considering the fact that Triton No. 1 player Ashley O’Neil was out because of a hip flexor injury. O’Neil played in only one of the Tritons’ matches last week.
Although every team has to focus on the task at hand, the Tritons were obviously looking ahead to the conference tournament later that week.
“”As far as Point Loma, there is not that much to say,”” said head coach Liz LaPlante. “”It was a tune-up for conference.””
Up top, Point Loma was strong. It took the No. 1 doubles proset and also took the No. 1 singles match when UCSD’s Melisa Liao fell to Anna Sieczka in three sets.
However, that was all that Point Loma could muster. The Tritons were forced to pull out two three-set wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles by Kristina Jansen and Julie Westerman respectively, but all the other Tritons rolled over their opponents easily.
UCSD then traveled north to Pomona to participate in the CCAA Championship Tournament. After posting victories over Cal State Los Angeles and Grand Canyon University, UCSD fell 6-3 in the finals to its arch-nemesis, UC Davis.
UCSD entered the CCAA Championship Tournament on a high note and continued to ride roughshod with a 7-2 victory over Cal State Los Angeles on Friday. Again, it was the depth of the Tritons that proved to be the difference.
Going into the match, LaPlante and her team were worried about Cal State Los Angeles’ top player, Tammy Encina. That fear was warranted as Encina won her match at No. 1 singles against Lyndsey Tadlock and also won at No. 1 doubles with partner Vivian Yee.
But just like in the match against Point Loma, the Tritons won all the other contests and cruised to victory. In fact, no Triton gave up a set in any match other then the ones at No. 1.
To LaPlante, the win was expected, and that is why she kept her best player out.
“”[We] kept [O’Neil] out again because we knew we could win without her and were trying to give her some extra days to rest and just hit a little,”” LaPlante said. “”We were disappointed in the performance of the No. 1 doubles team, but everyone else played great.””
Under the looming threat of rain, the Tritons took the court against Grand Canyon University on Saturday. Because it looked like the courts would soon be drenched, it was agreed that as soon as one team clinched the match, the rest of the match ups would be canceled.
This arrangement worked out for the Tritons, winning the first five points for a 5-0 win.
The Tritons swept the doubles competition with no team losing more than four games. Particularly impressive were Jansen and Mary Hung at No. 3 doubles. The duo cruised to a 8-0 victory.
In singles, Hung won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5, and Stephanie Moriarty won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 4, giving the Tritons the sweep.
LaPlante was particularly impressed with the play of her doubles teams.
“”We played excellent in doubles and swept them,”” LaPlante said. “”The No. 1 doubles team came out with a different attitude, and it showed. All the doubles played very well.””
The win set up a rematch with the UC Davis Aggies, the only team to beat the Tritons in CCAA play in the regular season.
The Tritons performed better this time around against Davis, but it was not enough, as they were dealt a 6-3 loss.
The Aggies took two of the three doubles sets. Only the No. 3 duo of Hung and Jansen were able to pull out a victory.
In singles, Hung and Jansen were also the only Tritons to earn victories. Jansen won a tough three-set match at No. 3 singles 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, while Hung dominated at No. 6 singles 6-2, 6-2. No other Tritons were able to even win a set.
Also announced last week were the CCAA All-Conference teams. The first team included Tritons Liao, Jansen and Westerman. Tadlock was named to the second team.
Next up for the Tritons is the Ojai Tournament, which will determine the All-American teams as well as the Division II individual national champion.
From there, UCSD goes on to the NCAA regionals May 4 to May 6. If they perform well there, they will move on to nationals the following weekend to finish up the year.
