After struggling through doubles action, the Long Beach State women’s tennis team woke up in singles play Friday afternoon.
The No. 42-ranked 49ers defeated visiting Cal State Northridge, 5-2, in their Big West Conference opener to earn the first home win at the Rhodes Tennis Center.
LBSU (3-3, 1-0 Big West) got off to a slow start, dropping two of three doubles matches to give the Matadors (2-6, 2-2 Big West) an early 1-0 lead.
The 49er freshmen tandem of Anais Dallara and Rachel Manasse took care of CSUN’s Julie Onishenko and Whitney Paluch, 8-3. LBSU’s No. 1 singles duo of seniors Hannah Grady and Jessica Weeks fell, 8-3, to the Matadors’ Evgeniya Vertesheva and Brooke Doane. Nina Jaworowski and Nigora Sirojiddinova defeated Deborah Armstrong and Lisa Sutton, 8-3, to help give CSUN the doubles point.
Grady said the doubles point was “tough,” and 12th-year head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello agreed.
“We had an extremely rough start in doubles, probably our worst this season,” Hilt-Costello said. “In the team meeting [before singles play], we were able to flush out the doubles and knew it was just one point.”
The ‘Niners dominated in singles action, winning five of the six matches to run away with the victory.
“[In singles] we played how we can play,” said Grady, who is just three total wins shy of the all-time LBSU career wins record. She already holds the school’s all-time singles wins record, which she set earlier in the month.
The reigning Big West Player of the Week and three-time Player of the Year in the conference, Grady struggled in the first set but adjusted to defeat Vertesheva, 6-4, 6-0.
Trailing 4-3 in the first set and visibly — as well as vocally — frustrated with herself, Grady rallied to win the last three games and close the set. In the second set, Grady was able to keep Vertesheva on the move, setting her up with soft lobs and easy cross-court finishers.
Grady, the No. 68 singles player in the nation, said she was able to make the adjustments to breeze to a 6-0 win and clinch the match.
“I was just a bit nervous getting into the match and I settled down. I didn’t feel like I was playing well,” Grady said. “I was more relaxed [in the second set,] and knew what her weaknesses were.”
In the quickest match of the day, No. 3 singles Manasse picked apart Doane, 6-2, 6-0.
“I felt like I was playing really well and she just broke down,” Manasse said.
Dallara, Sutton and Julie Luzar also recorded convincing victories for LBSU.
Dallara topped Paluch (6-4, 6-2), Sutton took care of Onishenko (6-1, 6-2) and Luzar was victorious over Sirojiddinova (6-4, 6-2).
The most competitive match was on Court 2, where Jaworowski edged Armstrong, 3-6, 7-5, 10-8, to earn the Matadors’ lone singles win.
After claiming the first set, Armstrong was in control, 5-4, and needed just a point to clinch the match. However, Jaworowski rallied back to win three consecutive games and send the match into a super tiebreaker, which she won 10-8.
The ‘Niners improved to 13-0 against CSUN dating back to 2001.
The match was a “Gold Game” for the 49ers, which brought out players and coaches from the men’s basketball, men’s volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s water polo and men’s and women’s track teams. LBSU President F. King Alexander and Athletic Director Vic Cegles also were in attendance.
The 49ers return to action on the road in a rescheduled match against Cal State Fullerton tomorrow at 10 a.m. The match was rescheduled to accommodate LBSU’s earlier match with Florida International.