Entering this weekend’s matches, the Aggies weren’t sure what direction the rest of their season would go.
On Wednesday, the UC Davis women’s tennis team fell 7-0 to No. 10 Stanford, pushing their overall record under .500 for the first time this season.
But as Friday rolled around, the Aggies knew exactly where they were headed, knocking off Santa Clara, 5-2, before blanking UC Santa Cruz on Sunday, 7-0.
Friday – UC Davis 5, Santa Clara 2
It was a perfect home opener for the Aggies on Friday.
The sun was out, fans were in the stands and at the end of the day, a W on the scoreboard.
In the early going, the Aggies were split at 1-1 in doubles play, with the final deciding point still up for grabs.
The No. 2 Aggie duo of Herzyl Legaspi and Dahra Zamudio were squaring off with Broncos Myra Davoudi and Courtney Hull. The Aggies fell behind 6-5 early, but grabbed three out of four games to earn the 8-6 victory and give UC Davis a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
As the first singles finished play, the victory was already sealed up for Aggies.
Zamudio was the first single to check in, as the freshman cruised with a pair of 6-0 wins. About five minutes later, Randi Schuler checked in at No. 1 with a 6-2, 6-1 finish. Desiree Stone then took care of business at the No. 2, earning a two set win, 6-2, 6-3.
At 4-0, the trio had guaranteed the Aggies a win, with a final victory coming at the No. 6 with Jessica Harris.
“We have a pretty good rivalry with UC Davis,” said Broncos coach Ben Cabell. “We’re pretty even with them so we knew we’re going to have to play our best.”
Schuler, Stone and Zamudio each earned a pair of victories for UC Davis. The lone two-win performance for the Broncos came from Carmen Pham.
Saturday – UC Davis 7, UC Santa Cruz 0
After Friday’s convincing win, momentum helped the Aggies cruise past the Banana Slugs in shutout fashion.
UC Davis outscored UC Santa Cruz in singles play 72-8 and 24-4 in doubles.
Schuler led the way for the Aggies, going 6-0, 6-0 over No. 1 Taylor Mannix.
“Our No. 1 is very tough,” said coach Bill Maze. “She had a good year last year, and I’m looking at her to be very strong for us this year.”
With the win, the Aggies improved to 4-3 overall. The loss keeps the Slugs winless, dropping them to 0-2.
The women’s tennis team will return to the court on Thursday as they travel to San Francisco to take on the Dons. San Francisco won its opening match of the season over Cal Baptist on Friday.
MATT MILLER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
