.png&width=20&height=20&type=webp)
Long Beach State University Athletics
Long Beach State University
UConn
Beach Tennis Cruises Past UConn, 6-1
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Long Beach, Calif. - Coming off its first complete sweep of the season, Long Beach State (9-4, 3-0 Big West) kept the momentum rolling into Friday's match against visiting UConn (6-7, 0-3 AAC), earning a comfortable 6-1 win.
"For us, we were really focusing on our body language and our demeanor out on the court," said Long Beach State head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello of the team's performance. "To help us stay positive and lift us through tight or difficult situations. I think we put some good results up on the board this weekend, maybe better than we would have because of our improved attitude.
"These were scrappy, feisty teams and we handled them really well, and I think that was in large part due to our positive attitude and our positive demeanor as we were working through the matches."
The Beach were in control after a strong performance in doubles that saw the team drop just one game in the three matches, and were in line for a 3-0 sweep if all matches had been played to completion. The No. 48 ranked pair of Laura Eales and Hayley Thompson earned a 6-0 win, as did the team of Ebba Unden and Alex Jones. Maeva Razakasoa and Julie Gerard were up 5-1 when the other matches concluded leaving their match unfinished.
On the singles side, the top five players all earned wins for the 49ers, led by straight set wins for Razakasoa at No. 1 (6-2, 6-3), Unden at No. 2 (6-4, 6-2), Eales at No. 4 (6-1, 6-3) and Thompson at No. 5 (6-3, 6-3). The most hotly contested match was at No. 3 singles for Julie Gerard, who battled out a three-set win thanks to a strong performance in the 10-point tiebreaker. Gerard outlasted Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva for a 4-6, 6-4, 10-3 comeback victory.
Long Beach has another big week on tap as No. 44 Dartmouth comes to town on Tuesday at 2 p.m., then the Beach resumes Big West action with Hawai'i on Thursday, also in a 2 p.m. match.
Singles Results
No. 66 Maeva Razakasoa (LBSU) def. Srna Stosljevic (UCONN) 6-2, 6-3
Ebba Unden (LBSU) def. Emma Alderman (UCONN) 6-4, 6-2
Julie Gerard (LBSU) def. Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva (UCONN) 4-6, 6-4, 10-3
Laura Eales (LBSU) def. Shea Flanagan (UCONN) 6-1, 6-3
Hayley Thompson (LBSU) def. Summer Walker (UCONN) 6-3, 6-3
Zaina Zaki (UCONN) def. Ella Monsey (LBSU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles Results
No. 48 Eales/Thompson (LBSU) def. Stosljevic/Fitz-Randolph (UCONN) 6-0
Gerard/Razakasoa (LBSU) vs. Alderman/ Pletnyeva (UCONN) Unfinished
Alex Jones/Unden (LBSU) def. Lazaro/Flanagan (UCONN) 6-0
.png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Players Mentioned
