The Long Beach State women’s tennis team won its third straight match with a dominating 7-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, improving its record to 6-1 at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
The win kept The Beach (9-2, 5-0 Big West Conference) on top of the Big West standings with an unblemished mark in conference play.
LBSU made quick work of CSUF (1-7, 0-4 Big West) at doubles. The closest match was at No. 3 doubles where Sarah Cantlay and Anna Jeczmionka defeated Karina Akhmedova and Malorie de la Cruz, 8-3.
Jaklin Alawi and Rachel Manasse beat Tiffany Mai and Monica Rodriguez, 8-1, for their third straight win at No. 1 doubles. The match was highlighted by a string of put-away shots from Alawi that the Titans couldn’t handle.
Anais Dallara and Deborah Armstrong didn’t lose a game at No. 2 doubles as they took care of Erin Wiesener and Jerusha Cruz, 8-0.
The 49ers continued their dominance at singles, losing only one set in six matches.
Alawi was once again matched up against Mai at No. 1 singles, after squaring off in doubles, but the result was the same as she pulled out a 6-2, 6-2 victory over her CSUF counterpart. Dallara defeated Rodriguez 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 singles.
The only close match came at No. 3 singles where Armstrong fought back from a 4-6 first-set loss to win the last two sets 6-4, 10-6, against Wiesner.
At No. 4 singles, Manasse scored often off powerful serves to beat de la Cruz 6-1, 6-0.
Jeczmionka swept Cruz 6-0, 6-0 and Cantlay cruised past Akhmedova 6-1, 6-1 at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively.
The Beach had to fight against on and off winds during Thursday’s match. The wind conditions weren’t anything new for The Beach as the team has practiced under less than ideal conditions over the past few weeks.
“We’ve been practicing in the wind,” Dallara said. “We were ready for it.”
Head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said she likes the way her team has played so far, but doesn’t want her players to lose focus with three conference games left.
“We still have three tough opponents before Big West play is done,” Hilt-Costello said. “We just have to keep working hard and try to get better every day before we play Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge.”
LBSU aims to end Nevada’s four-game win streak when it hosts the Wolf Pack tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Rhodes Tennis Center.