Who: UC Davis vs. San Francisco
Records: Aggies, 5-6 (1-3); Dons, 3-2
Where: San Francisco, Calif.
When: Friday at 1:30 p.m.
Who to watch: On Saturday, senior Jenna Kappel and doubles teammate Andrea Phillips shut down the Titans‘ Lani Agsalud and Karina Akhmedova, 8-0. Kappel then beat Akhmedova at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-3.
Kappel posted two wins in Sunday’s match against the Cal State Northridge Matadors, first in an 8-3 victory in doubles with Phillips and then a 6-2, 6-0 win in singles. She is 2-0 at the No. 3 spot this season.
Did you know? A Honolulu, Hawaii native, Kappel is also a UC Davis student athletic trainer pursuing a career as a physician’s assistant.
After two local matches in San Francisco and San Jose, the Aggies will be homebound, finishing out their remaining nine regular season contests at home.
Preview: A Valentine’s Day double-header left UC Davis with mixed feelings between Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine.
The Aggies defeated the Titans 5-0 before leaving the UC Irvine match with a 7-0 loss. On Sunday, the Aggies fell 4-3 to Cal State Northridge at the Matador Tennis Complex.
“It’s rare to play a double-header in tennis, but I thought the team handled it every well and got through the match against Fullerton efficiently,” coach Bill Maze said. “Irvine was just too good; they proved that again against us.“
On Sunday, Cal State Northridge took two of three in doubles before splitting the singles matches with the Aggies.
“It’s fun to play those close matches,” Maze said. “We emphasize attitude and effort as our main goals and I thought they were great, so I was pleased with that.“
The Aggies hope to regain their footing against the USF Dons on Friday.
USF has split its past two matches. Although bad weather conditions at their Saturday match against Santa Clara prevented the Dons from playing doubles, they walked away from singles with a 5-1 win. They then faced defeat against Pacific 6-1 on Monday, dropping them to 3-2.
“We beat them last year for the first time in eight or nine years,” Maze said. “It’s going to be a close one. They’ve got an exceptional player at No. 1 – one of best in country. We’ve got a good chance and are certainly looking forward to the challenge.“
– Pooja Kumar
