LOS ANGELES --- The George Fox women's tennis team used its mid-semester break to take on some of the perennially-talented Southern California NCAA DIII schools with matchups against Cal Lutheran and Occidental on Friday, Feb. 14.
Match One Recap
The Bruins started their days against the Regals of CLU with a hard-fought 8-1 defeat. The final tally may appear lopsided, but the Bruins fought for each point along the way and gave up nothing easy.
The doubles pairing of Laney Search and Jillian Studer fell 8-7 in a well-played doubles match, and while Alyssa Byde and Danielle Brown were dropped 8-0, the pairing of Sophia Lawrence and Megan Wilks put up a good fight in the third doubles flight in an 8-4 defeat.
Lawrence took on the Regals' No. 1 singles player and fell 4-6, 1-6 in that matchup, while Jillian Studer went 2-6, 1-6 in her No. 2 singles matchup.
Brown put up a fight in her No. 3 flight matchup but ultimately fell 3-6, 1-6 in that spot. Search fought through a 3-6, 0-6 defeat in the fourth singles flight, and Byde was dropped 6-1, 6-1 in the fifth singles flight during the match.
Ellie Mangan picked up the lone victory for Fox after dropping the Regals' No. 6 singles player with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to avoid the clean sweep on the day against a talented Regals squad that is ranked tenth in the Western region by the ITA.
Match Two Recap
The Bruins took on Occidental in its second match of the day and again fought hard in a 7-2 defeat.
The Bruins juggled their doubles lineups and put Lawrence and Studer together in the No. 1 doubles flight in an 8-1 defeat. Brown paired again with Search in an 8-5 loss, while the paring of Wilks and Mangan came away with an 8-3 win for the Bruins' first doubles victory of the day.
Studer was slotted in as the Bruins' No. 1 singles player in the matchup against the Tigers and fell in a 6-0, 6-0 sweep. Lawrence took the No. 2 singles flight on and fought hard before falling 6-4, 6-4 to the Tigers' player at the No. 2 slot.
Search fell in the No. 3 singles flight with a 6-2, 6-0 final, and Brown was dropped in the No. 4 flight with a 6-3, 6-2 final score. Byde won her first game with a 6-2 score before falling in three by a final of 2-6, 6-0, 10-12 at the No. 5 singles flight.
Olivia Morris earned a win for the Bruins' singles flights with a 6-2, 6-0 victory in the No. 6 singles flight.
What It Means
The Bruins are now 1-2 overall in the early stages of their 2020 campaign.
Their Thoughts
Coach Rick Cruz was proud of the Bruins' efforts, saying "We had a great first day even though we did not pick a team win. Individually we had some great efforts. Jillian and Sophia played some very tough competition but both hung in and played well in both matches. Megan and Ellie won a big match for us in doubles against Occidental and Alyssa played a great singles match vs Occidental falling just short. I'm excited to see how we do against Whittier on Sunday!"
Byde said of the matchups, "You don't realize how important toughness is until you're down and you have to fight back to win a match!"
T. Morris said of the team's effort, "everyone gave a great effort for our first matches outdoors. I'm excited to see what we can accomplish moving forward."
What Happens Next
The Bruins will face the Whittier Poets in Whittier, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 16 to wrap up their SoCal road trip with a start time slated for 10:00 am.
