By Long Beach State began the game versus Loyola Marymount with a quick doubles win, showing the dominance they’ve had all season long.
The first doubles match didn’t get scored due to it being unfinished in the second set. However, it didn’t impact the outcome as The Beach started with a 1-0 lead going into singles.
“I think we had a good start with the doubles point, that put pressure on [our] opponent,” sophomore Doga Akyurek said.
2/09/24 - Long Beach, Calif: Senior Rhona Cook crushes the ball during her singles match against LMU's Carlota Molina. Cook's doubles match with junior Peppi Ramstedt ended with a tie but she lost in singles against Molina 6-3, 6-3. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
The Lions did not go down without a fight as LMU’s Isabella Tcherkes-Zade quickly got the first points on the board, winning in two sets against Akyurek.
“The singles were pretty tough, I was the one who left the court first but I saw my teammates were fighting really hard and I was trying to cheer them as much as I could,” Akyurek said.
Just as LMU tied things up, Justine Dondonay swept Anastasia Bozova in her singles match to give Long Beach State a 2-1 lead.
“Overall, we feel pretty good about the match,” Dondonay said. “I think even if we lost, it showed that we can stay on the court for a long time.”
2/09/24 - Long Beach, Calif: Long Beach State sophomore Hana Becirovic Novak returns the ball after an LMU serve in doubles. Novak didn't play singles but she won 6-0 with her teammate Sophomore Doga Akyurek. Photo credit: Samuel Chacko
After two back-to-back losses in singles for Long Beach State, the score was 2-3 LMU. If The Beach won the next two, they would secure a narrow victory.
Long Beach and LMU were watching both Sarah Medik and Peppi Ramstedt’s game closely to see who would come up on top.
Ramstedt fought hard with the score 6-3, 2-6 in the first two sets but the Lion’s Romane Longueville sealed The Beach’s fate with a 6-2 win.
Even with the loss being enviable, the team still cheered on Medik as she was the last game of the day. However, she ended up losing in two sets.
“This was probably our first test, a real test against a really solid team and we came out and fought,” head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello said.
“I think there’s a lot of things to learn and this team is certainly ready to learn, improve and grow. And this is just the start to our journey to the end of our season.”
Hilt-Costello said the team needed to work on depth in certain areas, hitting shorter balls and setting up the opportunities a little bit more before taking risks.
The Beach will be headed south to San Diego as they go up against San Diego State on Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.
