53.7 F
Davis

Davis, California

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

UC Davis women’s tennis loses two matches at Washington State

After a rough start to the Aggies’ season, the team looks to improve at future matches 

 

By (Abigail DeSa) — sports@theaggie.org

 

On Jan. 11, the UC Davis women’s tennis team traveled to Seattle, Washington for their first matches of the season against the Washington State University Cougars and the Eastern Washington University Eagles. While the team demonstrated great effort and perseverance, the UC Davis Aggies unfortunately fell short over the weekend, losing both matches.

In their first match, the Aggies played Washington State University and were defeated with a final score of 0-7. The Cougars dominated the day, slashing wins across the board for the singles category, as well as taking a team point from the doubles category after winning two of the three doubles matches.

The Aggies’ lone victory was claimed by the doubles pair: Claire Galerkin, a fourth-year managerial economics major, and Kaia Wolfe, a third-year aerospace science and engineering and mechanical engineering double major. The match was heated and hard-fought on both sides, resulting in a tiebreaker set in Galerkin and Wolfe’s favor.

The match on Jan. 12 against Eastern Washington University was fierce, with both teams fighting hard to secure the win. Fired up by the tough loss the previous day, the Aggies showed up ready to shift the tides.

Despite the first doubles match ending in defeat for the Aggies, Galerkin and Wolfe rose to the occasion and earned a doubles win. With the matches tied, it was up to Polina Marakhtanova, a first-year cognitive science major, and Solia Valentine, a graduate student in the Master of Management program, to clinch the win. Unfortunately, they came up short and relinquished the first team point to the Eagles.

On the singles front, Marakhtanova and Valentine continued by picking up early wins for the team, showing their dominance in singles and making a strong comeback from their previous doubles match.

However, their efforts were soon followed by two losses for the Aggies, bringing the score to 2-3 to lean in favor of an Eagles victory.

It was up to Galerkin to keep the Aggies in the game — with a two-set victory, Galerkin clinched the win and tied up the score. Galerkin’s high performance throughout the weekend had her named the Big West Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, highlighting her valuable wins and athleticism.

Isabella Bringas, a first-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, then took over for the singles division. Nevertheless, she was unable to close the gap against her opponent , concluding the series of games and producing a team score of 3-4, with the Eagles taking the victory.

These matches assist the UC Davis tennis players in gaining experience and opportunities before the Big West Conference, making them best prepared for what is to come. Although the start to the season was rocky, the Aggies stood their ground and gave their full effort in every match. Despite setbacks, UC Davis will take the next steps forward and work toward coming back stronger. Up next, the UC Davis women’s tennis team is headed to Stanford, California for their match against Stanford University on Jan. 18.

 

By (Abigail DeSa) — sports@theaggie.org

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here