The UC Riverside women’s team finished their regular season on Thursday afternoon at home, dropping a heart breaker against the CSU Fullerton Titans with a 4-3 loss. The Highlanders got off to a good start, as the No. 1 doubles pair of Jamie Raney and Taylor Raney made quick work of Titan pair Tiffany Mai and Morgan McIntosh, winning the match 8-2. At No. 3, Kate Bergeson and Courtney Pattugalan defeated their opponents, Avriel Tomalko and Malorie dela Cruz, 8-1.
In the singles matches, The Highlanders won the No. 3 and No. 4 courts, while the Titans took victories at courts No. 1, 2 and 5. At No. 3, Highlander Taylor Raney defeated Monica Rodriguez 6-0 and 6-2, while at No. 4 Highlander Natalie McKay defeated Malorie dela Cruz by a score of 6-3 and 6-4.
After winning on court No. 1, thanks to the Titan’s Tiffany Mai defeating Highlander Jamie Raney 6-1, 6-2, Fullerton closed the gap to 3-2 by winning court No. 5, as Kalika Slevcove easily defeated Courtney Pattugalan 6-2, 6-1.
The Titans tied the score 3-3, as Highlander Kat Saltarelli lost a tight battle with Fullerton’s Morgan McIntosh 6-3, 7-5 at the No. 2 court.
The decision came down to court No. 6, where Fullerton’s Jessica Pepa easily won the first set 6-0, but Highlander Kate Bergeson won the second set 6-3 to tie, forcing a third set. Bergeson, however, lost the third set 6-3, giving the visitors the victory.
The Highlanders will now play at the Big West Conference Championship on Thursday, April 26.
