Women’s Tennis Starts Season with Dominant Wins

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –  The Santa Barbara City College women's tennis team is off to a 2-0 start after an 8-1 victory over Santa Monica College on Tuesday.

The Vaqueros opened their season on Feb. 11 with a commanding 9-0 win over Glendale Community College.

"The girls played great. I was very impressed with their doubles play, considering how much work we've put into it, and their singles didn't suffer," said head coach Chris Pope. "This was a good way to start our season. I think it gave the girls a lot of confidence."

Santa Barbara carried that confidence into Tuesday's match, sweeping the doubles competition. Yoshino Fujita and Callie Tzab won 8-1, Jana Leowald and Ashley Birch secured an 8-2 victory, and Sierra Bolanos and Donatella Biscayart battled to an 8-6 win.

"Yoshino and Callie played the dominant doubles they usually do," Pope said. "They like to attack the net by poaching, serving and volleying, and even returning and volleying. That means they're always putting pressure on their opponents by being aggressive at the net."

Meanwhile, Leowald and Birch relied on strong serves, well-placed returns, and strategic poaching to control their match.

Bolanos and Biscayart used a clever tactical adjustment late in the match to close out their victory.

Santa Barbara's only loss of the day came in a tightly contested three-set singles match.

"I think we are all feeling pretty confident coming off two decisive wins—9-0 against Glendale and 8-1 against Santa Monica," Pope said. "We have six strong players, a deep team, and I'm confident we can win our conference this year, especially if we keep working hard and focusing on the right things."

The Vaqueros return to action on Thursday at 2 p.m., hosting Bakersfield at Pershing Park.