Long Beach State University
San Francisco
Beach Tennis Overwhelms San Francisco on Opening Day
1/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach, Calif. - The 2016 season got off to a strong start for the Beach (1-0) with a 6-1 victory over San Francisco (0-4) Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Tennis Center. Long Beach quickly clinched a victory in singles play, with the bottom four players in the lineup all earning straight-set victories.
The Beach secured the doubles point with victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 matchups. The pair of Maeva Razakasoa and Julie Gerard cruised to a 6-0 victory at No. 2, followed by a 6-2 win at No. 3 by Ebba Unden and Georgie Sanders. The matches are abbreviated this season, with the pairs only playing to six games instead of eight.
With the doubles point in hand, the Beach didn't take long to clinch the win. Laura Eales swept the first set at No. 5 singles from Sofia Holmberg, who withdrew before the start of the second set to put the Beach up 2-0 in the match. Sanders and Hayley Thompson were also quick winners, dropping just a single game in their victories, 6-1, 6-0 for Thomson at No. 4 and 6-0, 6-1 for Sanders at No. 6.
Those wins gave the Beach a decisive 4-0 lead, but there were more wins for the 49ers. Gerard picked up the victory at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-3 while Unden was taken to the limit at No. 2 in a battle with Thyra Taune. Unden dropped the first set 2-6 and trailed 5-6 in the second, but she came through with the win to force a third-set tiebreak, which she claimed, 10-6.
San Francisco got their only point of the day at No. 1 singles thanks to Andrea Ka, the Dons' nationally-ranked top player. Ka was able to take the opening set (6-2) from Razakasoa, who bounced back to take set two by the same score. Ka was able to regain her momentum, however, winning set three by a 10-5 score.
Long Beach State opens Big West play in its next match, traveling to face CSUN next Friday for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Matadors.
Singles Results
No. 101 Andrea Ka (USF) def. Maeva Razakasoa (LBSU) 6-2, 2-6, 10-5
Ebba Unden (LBSU) def. Thyra Taune (USF) 2-6, 7-6(3), 10-6
Julie Gerard (LBSU) def. Genevieve McCloskey (USF) 6-3, 6-3
Hayley Thompson (LBSU) def. Shanna Dos Santos (USF) 6-1, 6-0
Laura Eales (LBSU) def. Sofia Holmberg (USF) 6-0, ret.
Georgie Sanders (LBSU) def. Jiayu Mu (USF) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles Results
Ka/Taune (USF) vs. Thompson/Eales (LBSU) unfinished
Razakasoa/Gerard (LBSU) def. McCloskey/Dos Santos (USF) 6-0
Unden/Sanders (LBSU) def. Mu/Holmberg (USF) 6-2
Players Mentioned
