No. 47 Long Beach State women’s tennis team seized its victory in a close match-in over its first ranked opponent of the week, No. 55 Sacramento State.
LBSU improved its record to 9-3 overall in the close win.
The 49ers held tight as they pinched the doubles point and went on to split the singles evenly as they claimed the three additional points they needed at Rhodes Tennis Center.
The ‘Niners came in tough as junior Sarah Cantlay and senior Julie Luzar toppled the Hornet’s duo of sophomores Katharina Knoebl and Sophie Lohscheidt, in a quick 8-1 set.
However, Cantlay dropped one of her opponents with a powerful overhand to the back of the head, possibly contributing to the far from marginal victory.
Over on No. 1 doubles, freshman Laura Bernard and senior Rachel Manasse lost to senior Tatsiana Kapshai and junior Rebeca Delgado as they both struggled in the front.
Senior Anais Dallara and junior Klaudia Malenovska rallied back as they trailed Sacramento State’s pair of seniors Clarisse Baca and Maria Meliuk, for nearly the entire set to take it away 8-6.
“We worked a lot, we talked a lot,” Dallara said. “They were moving a lot.”
This point proved essential to a narrow victory for The Beach as they held on to three wins in singles.
The ‘Niners struggled earl on as Sacramento State’s Meliuk bounced junior Anna Jeczmionka out on the No. 6 singles in a swift 6-0, 6-1 match.
Nevertheless, LBSU regained the lead as its top players prevailed.
Manasse, with another great start in singles, dominated Baca on the No. 2 court in two consecutive 6-2 sets.
Dallara continued her dominant streak as she defeated Kapshai at the top spot 6-2, 6-3.
“She was a flat hitter,” Dallara said. “I made her run, and kept moving forward.”
“I’ve been working it, really working it,” she said.
However, the Beach struggled to get the last point as Malenovska lost to Lohsheidt in a three-set match 5-7, 6-3, 1-6.
Cantlay saved the 49ers as she responded to a tough second-set tiebreaker loss with a perfect third set to seal the deal with a 6-2, 6-7, 6-0 win.
Bernard struggled in the longest match of the evening as she was forced to play tough, long rallies against a very defensive opponent.
She eventually ended the match after being down 2-5 in the final set, as her mixed style of play wasn’t enough to outmatch Delgado.
