The Long Beach State women’s tennis team can finally see clearly now that the rain is gone.
After two delays due to bad weather, Long Beach will face off against the University of San Diego Thursday at home, a game in which anticipation has been building up for nearly a month.
USD (4-2) has shown a tendency to win its doubles matches, having only lost one doubles point this season. The 49ers must get the early point advantage to give themselves a good cushion for the rest of the game. Losing the doubles point doesn’t mean the end of the world for LBSU, considering USD’s last loss came against Oregon despite winning the doubles point.
The competition will only get more intense from here, with each singles match feeling much more aggressive than usual. Similar to the 49ers, the Toreros have had many well-rounded wins, getting singles victories from players all over their roster despite the differences in skill.
Singles wins will only be possible if players continue the level of form they showed in their most recent road trip. Freshman Dominique Meyer and sophomore Lalita Devarakonda were two players who stepped up in their singles matches, and will be X factors against USD.
One opponent the 49ers need to take seriously is freshman Solymar Colling, a player who has a tendency of losing her doubles matches, but comes to be much more aggressive in singles. In team wins, Colling has only won one doubles match, yet has won three of her singles matches.
With Wiktoria Rutkowska likely to face her in both doubles and singles, the 49ers need to gain the advantage early on both occasions.
Following the game against USD, the 49ers have an 11 a.m. matchup against conference rival Cal State Fullerton at the Titan Tennis Courts.