Depth Proves the Difference in Women's Tennis Defeat of UC Santa Cruz
Walla Walla, Wash. -- Displaying great depth, the Missionaries beat UC Santa Cruz, one of the top ranked squads in the Western Region, at the Bratton Tennis Center this evening 5 – 4, getting a victory from a first-year doubles team and at No. 4 and 5 singles. The match kicked off the Whitman Winter Classic, a weekend of tennis featuring some of the top teams in the region.
The Banana Slugs came into the match ranked seventh in the region. Whitman ranked fifth in the West and No. 29 nationally, knew it would have a battle on its hands, and that’s exactly how the match played out, as the outcome was not decided until deep into the singles matches.
The Missionaries took 2 of the 3 doubles matches. Courtney Lawless (So., Austin, TX) and Alyssa Roberg (Sr., Scotts Valley, CA) won at the top of the line-up, 8 – 6, over Alex Scotter and Laura Wade. UCSC evened things with a win at No. 2 when Jenna Dobrin (Fr., Camarillo, CA) and Morgan Lawless (So, Austin, TX) let a 4 – 1 advantage slip away and Ariana Makhtari and Katy Collins came back to grab the match 8 – 5.
With the lead going into singles on the line, first-year Missionaries Kate Rubinstein (Portland, OR) and Katrina Allick (San Francisco, CA) showed true grit, overcoming deficits of 1 – 4 and 4 – 5 to pull out the match 8 – 6 over Courtney Lymburner and Monika Prokes, giving the Whits a 2 – 1 edge.
After both Courtney and Morgan Lawless were defeated at No. 1 and 3 singles, the Whits saw their lead evaporate as the Slugs drew even at 3 – 3; Roberg provided Whitman a win at No. 2 with a 6 – 1, 6 – 2 decision over Scotter.
But Whitman’s depth came to the forefront in deciding the match. Dobrin won a three-set match against Lymburner at the No. 4 spot, taking the last set 6 – 4, and Kate Kunkel-Patterson (Sr,Yakima, WA) guaranteed the Whitman victory with a deciding 6 – 0, 6 – 1 win over Suzanne Lipscomb. Collins had bested the Missionaries’ Maddy Webster (So, Long Beach, CA) at No. 5.
UCSC got strong performances at No. 1 and 3. Makhtari outdueled C Lawless at the top of the line-up 5 – 6, 6 – 1 and 6 – 3. Big hitting Laura Wade defeated M. Lawless 6 – 2, 6 -3.
The win evens the Whits early season record at 1 – 1. They have the day off before resuming action against Linfield Saturday at 10 am, outdoors, weather permitting. USCS plays Linfied tomorrow at 10 am as the four-team Classic Continues.
Contact:
Andrew Holt
Whitman Sports Information Director
509.527.5902
345 Boyer Ave.