By Long Beach State women’s tennis was upset 6-1 by Loyola Marymount in a match full of controversy. Multiple decisions by the umpires were questioned by both coaches, creating a tense atmosphere at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
“I think there were some interesting antics going on with the other team today,” Long Beach head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said. “I’ve watched our girls play all season and we don’t make bad line calls, if we did we would address it. It was an interesting day of tennis.”
Loyola Marymount head coach Agustin Moreno felt his team deserved the win despite the small mishaps with the umpires.
“It’s part of the game,” Moreno said. “I just think there should be more umpires here. There was no problem after that. I think we are in shape and that is why we won today.”
LBSU only has one win in four home matches this season, giving the team another disappointing loss at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
“It is a little disappointing,” Hilt-Costello said. “We missed a few game plans and missed our opportunities. We hope to jump over the hump in the next couple of weeks. It has been a bumpy start this season — we have a lot of work to do.”
Long Beach freshmen Sadaf Sadeghvaziri and Georgia Gulin defeated Lions Camila Tumosa and Elvira Juravliova 6-0 in the first doubles game, but the extra point was awarded to Loyola Marymount after they defeated the 49ers in the remaining two doubles matches.
Sadeghvaziri tied the game 1-1 when she got the best of senior Anna Romeka, beating her 6-2, 6-1. She ended up giving her team the only point of the afternoon after the Lions won their five remaining singles matches.
“I feel I fought for every single point,” Sadeghvaziri said. “I focused on the small goals during my match. We all fought in all of the courts, I feel there were lots of problems with out of bounce calls but I mean it’s tennis, there is not much you can do.”
Long Beach will head to Los Angeles at 4 p.m. Saturday to play against USC at the Marks Tennis Stadium.
