Women's Tennis Drops Two Close Matches

By Henry Gula

Over the weekend, the Santa Clara women's tennis team came out on the losing end of two close matches, losing 4-3 to both the Spartans of San Jose State University and 4-3 to the 56th-ranked Fresno State University Bulldogs.

The win by the Spartans on Saturday gave San Jose State their first win over the Broncos since 1998.

"It was a tough match, they're a good team," said fifth-year Head Coach Ben Cabell. "It was a learning experience for us. We had some chances and we are definitely going to focus on taking advantage of the chances we have to win going forward."

Two of Santa Clara's three points came from singles wins from number three Kelly Lamble and number four Stephanie Skaras.

The Broncos' number one, Katie Le, lost her second match of the season in a third-set tiebreaker.

In doubles, the Broncos' number one doubles pairing, Le and Jessica Agra, and number three pairing, Skaras and Delphine Rouvillois, both won their matches and earned the doubles point for Santa Clara.

"We did a lot of good things to get in position to win, but it's not a fluke that they beat us, they've beaten a few good teams this year," said Cabell of the Spartans.

On Sunday against the Bulldogs, the Broncos shuffled their lineup and played without senior Alex Zaniewski, inserting freshman Chelby Cooke into the sixth spot.

Despite losing to Fresno State, a bright spot for the Broncos was Cooke's first win at the collegiate level.

"I had a back surgery in the summer, so I started playing in January with the team," Cooke told Santa Clara Broncos Athletics online. "I'm glad I played as hard as I did and closed in the end of my first official duel as a college player. I knew that I really needed to pull out a win whether it would have won the whole match for the team or not. Every match counts." 

Cabell also stressed the importance of the team saying that the four points needed to secure a team match victory can come from anywhere, regardless of whether it's the first or sixth spot.

The Broncos won the doubles point again against the Bulldogs, with wins again from Le and Agra in the first spot and Skaras and Rouvillois in the third.

Le bounced back with a win to add to Cooke's but the Broncos were unable to get the final point needed for a win.

"We played them really close and if we can get a little bit better I think it's a good sign for the rest of the season," said Cabell. "We're doing a lot of things right and if we can make a few adjustments we'll be in really good shape."

The Broncos will travel to Arizona this weekend to take on the University of Arizona on Saturday and Arizona State University on Sunday.

"If we can win even one of these two matches we'll be right there in the rankings," Cabell said. "We have a tough schedule this year. A couple good wins can put us where we want to be. It's tough to feel like you really could and should be 4-0, but I think we look at it the right way and can use it to challenge ourselves later in the season to become better."

Contact Henry Gula at hgula@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.