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Beach
tennis tops UC Davis, falls to Pacific and
Sacramento State
By
Michelle Smith
Online Forty- Niner
Staff Writer
The
No. 60-ranked Long Beach State tennis team
hit the road this past weekend to Northern
California with one goal in mind. The team
was looking to improve on its record of
2-2, but got stuck in the net in two of
their three matches.
LBSU's
(3-5) first stop was at UC Davis, where
they kicked off their trip in fine fashion,
winning 6-1 on Friday afternoon.
The
Beach began the day with an early lead,
winning all three of its doubles matches.
At
court one, LBSU's Nicole Bouffler and Sandra
Rocha won 8-6 over UC Davis' Ally Muller
and Robin Guier. At court two, Alanah Carroll
and Stephanie Bengson teamed up to defeat
UC Davis' Amanda Wise and Laura Tidik 8-4.
At court three, the 49ers' Nicoletta Ratiu
and Rachael Porsz surged past Ashley Lehman
and Audrey Wingo to win forcefully, 8-0.
The
energy carried over for LBSU into the singles
matches where they won five of the six matches.
Bouffler
won 7-5, 6-2 over Muller at court one. LBSU
also won at courts four, five and six. UC
Davis' Guier handed The Beach its only loss
of the day, defeating Carroll 7-6, 6-3.
The
49ers stayed on the road Saturday afternoon
as they traveled up to Stockton to face
No. 66-ranked Pacific (7-1). The Beach was
hopeful that the momentum from Friday's
win would carry over, but they succumbed
to the Tigers, losing 4-3.
The
49ers came out strong in doubles play, winning
all three of their matches. At court one,
Bouffler and Rocha won 8-5 over Katharina
Heil and Vana Mrazovic. Carroll and Bengson
beat Pacific's Natalie Kostenko and Anja
Herrman 8-6. At Court three, LBSU's Ratiu
and Porsz were victorious over Katharina
Trumpf and Helen Schneider, winning 8-4.
After
winning the doubles point, things took a
turn for the worse as The Beach lost four
of the six matches in singles play.
At
court four, Rocha defeated Pacific's Trumpf
7-5, 6-2. The Beach picked up their third
and final point at court six where Ratiu
swung past Schneider 6-2, 6-2. The Tigers
took the singles point at courts one, two
and three, which tied up the match. LBSU's
Porsz battled hard in the deciding match
at court five, but ultimately fell to Herrman
in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 7-5.
After
Saturday's disappointing loss, The Beach
was back in action on Sunday morning as
they squared off against No. 44-ranked Sacramento
State to close out their road trip.
Sacramento
State (5-3) breezed past The Beach 7-0.
The Hornets stung the 49ers, winning all
six singles matches in straight sets.
In
doubles play, the Hornets took the doubles
point by winning at courts two and three.
The sole 49ers' win came at court one, where
the reliable tandem of Bouffler and Rocha
swung past Anna Karaveyeva and Margarita
Karnaukhova 8-2. Bouffler and Rocha are
now a perfect 6-0 this spring.
In
singles play, the 49ers were unable to steal
the momentum from the Hornets as they dropped
all six matches. The most competitive match
came at court five, where LBSU's Porsz battled
hard against Cecilia Helland but fell short,
7-6, 7-6. At court one, Karnaukhova shut
out Bouffler, 6-0, 6-0.
LBSU
will host UC Riverside on Thursday at 2
p.m. at the Campus Courts.
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