The Highlanders, who beat the Royals 5-0 last season, swept the Royals by seven points. The Highlanders won doubles matches one, two and three and all six of their singles matches. Hope International University, also coming off a loss, played a tough back and forth against the Highlanders. Unfortunately, by the end of the doubles matches, there was no hope for the Royals.
Throughout the doubles matches, it was clear that the Highlanders were wearing out Hope’s doubles teams. Seniors Ryan Huynh and Justin Lamy, playing doubles match one, won 3-6. Their experience on this team and chemistry shone as they defeated the Royals.
The University of California, Riverside (UCR) definitely had the home court advantage and the advantage of their experienced doubles teams, as they easily took down the royals with scores of: 6-3,6-2, and 6-1.
Reflecting on his team’s performance, senior Justin Lamy shared, “Today, overall was a hard-fought team win. I think we all came together, in singles and doubles, and we were really ready for this moment. I think we struggled a little bit early on in this season. We have a lot of young players who are starting in our line-up.”
“And I think after we got a few reps in, a few matches in and we got to play at home for the first time this week, we kinda eased in and started playing well. It’s good to get this home win under our belt, we have a lot of home matches coming up.”
Going into the singles matches, Riverside’s confidence was visible on the court. Each singles player defeated their opponent within two matches. Although the Royals’ energy picked up during their second match for the singles set, it was not enough to prevent the Highlanders from reaching six points quicker.
Riverside will be playing their next game on Feb. 16 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at the Student Recreation Center (SRC) tennis courts. The Highlanders conference games begin March 26 against UC San Diego.
