Long Beach State University
Hawai'i
Beach Tennis Edged at Hawai'I, 4-3
2/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
HONOLULU - Long Beach State (5-2, 2-1 Big West) came up just short in a 4-3 loss at Hawai'i (6-2, 3-0 Big West) on Saturday. It was a battle of the top two teams in the Big West Conference, and the Rainbow Wahine prevailed on their home court. LBSU was playing its second match in as many days after beating BYU, 4-3, on Friday.
"We are a work in progress and we learned a lot today," said LBSU head coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. "We are going to use this match to get better for our next opportunity."
Hawai'i claimed the doubles point with wins from its No. 1 and No. 3 pairs. Lena Pacholski and Laura Eales teamed up for a 6-3 win for the Beach at No. 2.
Eales carried that over into singles play, where she played the only three-set match of the day and picked up a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory at No. 6 singles. At the top of the lineup, senior Maeva Razakasoa earned a 6-0, 7-6 (5) win over UH's Cindy Nguyen. Those two are the only players to win Big West Player of the Year in the last three seasons (Razakasoa twice and Nguyen once in 2015), giving Razakasoa a big leg up in the battle for that prize this season.
Freshman Natalia Munoz also picked up a singles win at No. 5, prevailing by a score of 6-2, 6-1.
The Beach will remain on the road and stay in conference action next weekend. LBSU will visit UC Irvine for an 11 a.m. match on Saturday in its only action of the week.
Players Mentioned
