Muristek
IRVINE — After playing its fourth match in five days, the Westmont women’s tennis team (6-8, 4-1 GSAC) was unable to remain undefeated in GSAC play.
On Tuesday in Irvine, Westcliff (4-4, 3-2 GSAC) handed Westmont a 4-2 defeat, becoming the first club in the conference to do so in 2022.
“Overall, nothing was broken,” assured Coach Cade Pierson. “We still played good tennis despite the fact that we lost. Our opponents played well, but for us to not get caught up in this is important. This just means we can keep getting better and apply what we learned today in future matches.”
In doubles, Rachal Jackson and Christine Hemry were one game away from winning their set on court one. Unfortunately, the match did not get the chance to finish as Westmont fell on courts two and three, clinching the doubles point for Westcliff.
On court two, Emily Peterson and Francesca Aguirre fell to Lilian Burth and Mareilena Muench, and on court three, Sophia Ostovany and Logan Jackson fell to Cristina Hurtado and Shayee Sherif.
In singles, Westmont was awarded a win on six immediately when Westcliff did not have a player available to compete. Unfortunately for Westmont, Westcliff did not allow court six to be more than a small blip on their radar, as the team surrendered just one played match to Westmont.
Aguirre was the lone Westmont player to earn her victory, as she defeated Burth 6-4, 6-2 on court three.
Noteworthy defeats included Hemry, who fell in three sets (6-2, 3-6, 1-6) on court four, and Jackson, who fell 6-2, 7-6 (9) on court one.
“It was great to get a win in Francesca’s match,” said Pierson. “She did a great job staying focused. Outside of that, Christine played really well. Emily was playing pretty good tennis as well, and was in the third set before the match ended. Rachal had another really good day mentally as well, really building off of yesterday.
“It was good tennis, but we have played a lot of tennis recently. It’s a good opportunity for us to step back, and apply what we learned in future matches.
“I expect us to not get caught up in the loss, but instead use it as motivation for the rest of the week and rest of the season.”
Westmont returns to GSAC play on Friday against Saint Katherine, in a key GSAC match at 10 a.m.
Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.
email: sports@newspress.com
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