The UCR women’s tennis team fell to 4-14 on the season following three losses this week including a pair of conference games versus Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara.
On Thursday, playing on the blue courts of the Student Recreation Center, the Highlanders mustered up three points against their first opponent, Arizona Christian, but fell 4-3 to the ninth-ranked team in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Freshman Karla Dulay was the star player for UC Riverside, winning in both singles and doubles. Caroline Hall and Tamilla Vaksman also earned points for the Highlanders in the fourth and fifth singles spots.
Travelling to Cal State Fullerton on Friday afternoon, the blue and gold dropped their sixth consecutive match, 6-1, against the hosting Titans. Vaksman was the only Highlander to earn a point, eking out a close match 10-6 in a third-set tiebreaker. Facing their second Big West foe of the week, UCR again came out on the losing end, falling to the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, 7-0.
The men’s tennis team has also struggled, only posting three wins in the season. On Sunday, April 5, the Highlanders squared off against hosting UCSB. Despite extending some games to third-set tiebreakers, UCR couldn’t muster an upset, falling 6-1 with a lone singles win by Michael Carella.
With fans peppered throughout the stands on Thursday afternoon, Cooper Bridge and Calvin Ngo served past their opponents at the number three and six singles, but Binghamton got the better of UCR, 5-2.
Binghamton dominated in doubles, winning all three contests without dropping more than three games. In singles, Bridge dropped the first set 6-4, before winning the next two 6-3 while Ngo won in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6.
The women’s team next hosts UC Irvine on April 15 while the men host UC Davis on April 18.
