In a weekend of peculiar circumstances, the Long Beach State women’s tennis team concluded the Fullerton Invitational at the Rhodes Tennis Center in Long Beach.
The tournament’s top-seeded tandem of Anais Dallara and Deborah Armstrong relinquished a 6-3 lead before winning the match, 8-6, over fellow teammates Rachel Manasse and Klaudia Malenovska.
“It was awkward,” Armstrong said. “But we kept telling ourselves that it was a normal match, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to get into it.
“But we know that no matter what happens we’re going to be teammates after. It’s not like there’s any hard feelings.”
After trailing the match, 6-3, Manasse and Malenovska rallied behind their efficient returns to break serve and hold twice in three consecutive games, evening the match at 6 apiece.
With the momentum now in their favor, Manasse and Malenovska saw their first opportunity to take the lead in the match. To their dismay, the duo was unable to stave off Dallara and Armstrong as a result of miscalculated returns that led to unforced errors.
Then, with a 7-6 lead and an opportunity to close out the match, Dallara and Armstrong broke Manasse and Malenovska’s serve in impressive fashion. The duo needed the minimum of just four breaks, including a double fault by Malenovska for the final point of the match.
“We had a plan to come to the net as soon as possible,” Dallara said. “And getting out to a good start helped us break their rhythm and gave us confidence when we got our energy back in the end.”
After all eight players on the 49ers’ roster took part in the all-LBSU doubles semifinal in Fullerton on Sunday, the finals were conveniently moved to Long Beach to prevent two players from playing four matches on Sunday.
Aside from competing in the doubles semifinal that same day, Dallara and Malenovska faced off in the singles final after knocking off fellow 49ers Julie Luzar and Jaklin Alawi, respectively, in the semifinals.
LBSU head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello, who remained neutral throughout the match, said that she embraced the all-LBSU doubles final match for several reasons.
“I think it’s all positive and it’s a great learning experience for the girls,” Hilt-Costello said. “But this is a really talented group of girls who are very close in ability level and again, they made each other better today.”
The Beach returns to action on Oct. 21 for the ITA West Regional in San Diego.
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