On Thursday, Jan. 30, the UCR women’s tennis team (1-1) battled against Hope International University (HIU) at UCR’s Student Recreation Center courts. The Highlanders went into the match looking to get the team victory after losing 7-0 to San Diego State University (1-0) on Jan. 25.
The Highlanders have battled against Hope International University, a private Christian University in Fullerton, a total of three times since 2017, in which they were victorious in all three prior matchups.
This time proved no different for the Highlanders as they once again earned the 7- 0 victory. The singles bracket was led by UCR sophomore Mahli Silpachai who competed against junior Andela Dejanovic. Silpachai defeated her opponent 7-5, 6-2. In addition to the singles bracket, Silpachai also participated in the doubles bracket with freshman Sofia Lazzaroni. Silpachai and Lazzaroni competed against HIU senior Kristen Russo and junior Matea Ancheta. They were victorious in their doubles match by a final score of 6-3.
Riverside sophomore Leslie Gelinas got the victory against Russo 6-1, 6-0 in the singles bracket. Gelinas also competed in the doubles bracket with UCR senior Lauren Wolfe. They competed against HIU freshman Lisanne Siebrecht and senior Jessica Ulloh where they got their 6-0 victory.
In the number three singles match, Highlander senior Sara Khattab battled against Royals junior Anastasija Djordjevic. Khattab secured the 6-3, 6-3 victory as she did not allow her opponent to get a point on the board. The number five singles bracket was led by Wolfe, who defeated HIU senior Lauren Macdonell. The final score of their match was 6-0, 6-0 in favor of Wolfe. The last singles match played was with UCR senior Nicole Hitomi and HIU senior Ulloa. Hitomi held the advantage all match as she handedly got the win. Hitomi won with a final score of 6-1, 6-1.
UCR was fairly dominant as a team against Hope International University. Every Highlander that participated in the singles bracket got the win against their HIU opponent. The closest match was the first singles match of Silpachai and Dejanovic where Dejanovic of HIU got to a score of five but Silpachai won with seven.
Up next, the Highlanders will battle against Westmount College (0-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 5. in Riverside at the SRC. They will look to continue their momentum against a winless team.
