It was another tough week at the office for UCR’s tennis programs. The women’s team only secured one match win in a 6-1 loss to Air Force. The men’s club, however, fared slightly better as they came up one match shy from a victory, losing a 4-3 nail-biter to Northern Arizona.
Freshman Jasmine Almaguer was the bright spot in the Highlanders’ home season opener against the visiting Air Force Academy. The John W. North High School product won her match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, and was the only UCR player to score a win on the day. The women’s team next faces Nevada on Jan. 31.
On the men’s side, the duo of Jack Felich and Julian Ruffin got UCR started in winning fashion as they secured a win, 6-4, followed by another victory by the Highlanders’ Marcus Vizcarra and Calvin Ngo, 6-0. The two doubles wins gave Riverside the first point of the match.
In singles, Ruffin earned a straight-sets win over Northern Arizona’s Trevor Unger while teammate Cooper Bridge followed suit with a 6-2, 5-6, 10-7 triumph over Fabio Tomasetti. The Lumberjacks, however, won in the four other matches as UCR came up one win short, losing 4-3.
The following day, the men’s tennis team faced off against Arizona. They were aced from top to bottom as the Highlanders failed to win a point en route to a 7-0 loss. The Wildcats shut out UCR from the onset as the team didn’t surrender more than three games in the second set of singles. The Riverside doubles team of Calvin Ngo and Marcus Vizcarra were downed in 20 minutes, 6-1 followed by a 6-2 doubles loss by Luis Gasato and Cooper Bridge. The men’s team is scheduled to compete against Weber State on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas.
