On Tuesday Jan. 27, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) women’s tennis team faced California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) in what ended as a 5-2 defeat.
The UCR women’s team entered their doubles matches with the following pairs: Kei Kato and Ramey Yu on court one, Crystal Kim and Susannah Su on court two and Kaia Paulo and Sam Condevillamar on court three.
Court three housed the two season debuts in Condevillamar and Paulo with this being Paulo’s Highlander debut following her transfer from California Baptist University. The court was lost 6-3 to CSUF followed by court two’s Su and Kim losing 6-2 leaving Kato and Yu’s match unfinished.
With CSUF having taken the doubles point UCR needed to win four of the six singles matches. The Highlanders took to their courts for the singles round. Court one housed Yu as she lost in straight sets 7-5 and 6-0. Court two housed the longest running match as Kato won 6-3, lost 6-1, and won 6-3 in the third set giving UCR their first point.
Kim lost 6-4, 7-5 losing a point on court three. Court four was also lost by Su 6-3, and 6-3. Li obtained the court five point through her two set wins of 6-3, and 6-4. Curcic lost court six after winning the first set 6-4, but lost the next two sets 6-1 and 6-2.
While UCR lost 5-2, the match had plenty of encouraging moments to fall back on. Kato’s three-set match win and Li’s first career win for the Highlanders in straight sets were some positive takeaways for the team.
After losing to Cal State Long Beach 5-2, the Highlanders will resume conference play on Feb. 17 against California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.
