Over the weekend the UC Davis women’s tennis team was handed their first loss in two months of competition.
Despite the setback, the Aggies bounced back against Montana and had reason to feel good with their first national ranking in school history.
With the weekend split, No. 60 UC Davis moves to 12-3 on the season.
Saturday – Sacramento State 6, UC Davis 0
The 46th ranked Sacramento State team was too much for UC Davis to handle, despite the Aggies’ great form in recent matches. Saturday’s match was the team’s first competition since March 5, and coach Bill Maze called it a wake up call.
“We were feeling pretty good, but it just goes to show you that those teams in the top 50 are pretty darn good,” said Maze.
The non-conference match was originally scheduled to be played at the Marya Welch Tennis Center in Davis, but was moved to Sacramento State’s indoor facility due to concerns of rain. The doubles competition was not played as the Hornets won the first four singles matches to secure the victory.
Lauren Curry and Dahra Zamudio both won their opening sets, but were unable to hold onto the lead. They were the only UC Davis players to win a set.
Despite the tough loss, Maze had a positive outlook after the defeat.
“It was good in a way,” he said. “[The loss] gives us incentive to keep pushing and keep working hard to try and get to that [elite] level.”
Sunday March 27th-UC Davis 6, Montana 1
Despite having their win-streak snapped, the Aggies responded with a sound victory over non-conference opponent Montana.
Coach Maze was proud of the effort.
“Our team bounced back well,” he said. “They’re pretty good at that.”
Maze added that it was nice to get back into the win column.
UC Davis won the doubles competition and then took five out of the six singles matches for the victory.
Megan Heneghan, Dahra Zamudio, Ellie Edles, Kelly Chui and Lauren Curry all earned straight set victories for UC Davis. It was an impressive showing considering the tough loss the team had faced less than 24 hours prior.
“I really liked that our team came out today and played tough and with confidence,” said coach Maze.
The Aggies will be back in action on Wednesday at 1:00 against a formidable Nevada squad. Maze is predicting a tough match, but is confident that if the team plays well, they can earn a victory.
This coming Saturday, UC Davis will have a home match against Cal Poly. The Mustangs rank in the top 50 nationally and sit tied with UC Davis atop the Big West Conference standings.
CAELUM SHOVE can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
