Seeded fifth, UCR’s men’s tennis went into the Big West Championship Tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden against the fourth-seeded Cal Poly Mustangs (15-9) on Thursday, April 23. However, they fell 4-0, concluding their season with a 4-16 record, which was double the amount of wins last year (2-22).
The day kicked off with doubles with UCR’s doubles pairings Cooper Bridge and Michael Carella as well as Luis Gastao and Sean Robles falling 6-2 to their Mustang foes.
In singles, UCR’s Bridge faced Cal Poly’s Corey Pang. Bridge came close to taking the first, 6-4, but was routined in the second, 6-2. Julian Ruffin faced the same fate, being defeated by Ben Donovan, 6-0, 6-0.
The rest of the team, including Sina Sharifi, Calvin Ngo and Gastao did not finish as Cal Poly had enough points to win the tournament.
Seeded ninth, the women’s tennis team battled hard, but came up short against the eighth seed Cal Poly Pomona Mustangs on Thursday, April 23, at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It was the first round of the Big West Championships.
The tournament kicked off with doubles, as Cal Poly snagged the first points of the match with 8-1 and 8-0 wins at numbers one and three. Zoe Oedekerk and Molly Reed defeated UCR’s Kassie Truong and Caroline Hall at the number-three spot. At the number-one spot, Louise Oxnevad and Dane Joubert handed a loss to the Highlanders Karla Dulay and Tamilia Vaksman.
In singles, the Mustangs won all three matches in straight sets. Mustang Molly Reed defeated Dulay 6-1, 6-2 at number three while Hannah Stone from Cal Poly defeated Hall at number four 6-1, 6-0, and finally UCR’s Tamilla Vaksman lost 6-1, 6-0 to Oedekerk. The final three matches did not finish as Cal Poly had earned enough points to secure the victory.
Overall, the Highlanders had a 4-18 record for the season, which improved upon the 0-20 the sport produced last season.
