Women's Tennis Faults During Home Stand

It was another heartbreaking week in women's tennis. The Lady Corsairs played at home twice against cross-county rivals Glendale Community College and Ventura College. Both teams brought their A-game to town, and it resulted in two hard-hitting losses for Santa Monica College. The devastating outcomes have left the team with a losing record of 3-4.

On Tuesday, the team played Ventura College, which turned out to be a great match, and went right down to the last point. A particularly memorable match was between Lady Corsair Ivette Lopez and opposing player Katya Welborn. There was no "love" loss here as this match-up went easily over an hour. The first two matches were split, and it was the final game between the two that brought about a crushing loss for the Lady Corsairs.

However, the doubles in this match was a profitable pursuit, and the Corsairs took two out of the three, unfortunately losing the game by a single point.

On Thursday, our neighbors to the north, Glendale Community College, came down to Reed Park to see how they would fare against the then 3-3 Lady Corsairs. Once again, Lopez kept the enemy, Sarah Aguilar, at bay for some time, splitting the score once more, but ultimately losing in a tie-breaking match. Alix Thomas also brought the heat in this event, barely losing her third match to Armine Balayan with a 6-4 final score. However, it's important to note in the second of the three matches, she went 6-1 leaving her opponent in a rut, and although she was able to win the third match, it was very close. The doubles matches were just as fruitful as they were on Tuesday, with the Lady Corsairs winning two out of three of them. After the near sweep that took place during the singles, it's just to say that in terms of the doubles, SMC is performing decently. Throughout all the doubles matches the teamwork was incomparable to the other team, and that was clearly the strong suit for the week.

In terms of players, one player clearly shined all week long, and that was Anastasia Eliseeva, who was unstoppable throughout both visits. And on a winning streak of six games, what's most remarkable was that regardless of her stellar performance, she suffered through a sore right elbow during all of her matches this week. All of her matches were won by a three or more point difference this week. She was clearly in the zone, and dominating.

While not a particularly pleasant week for Women's Tennis, perhaps now it is easier to see what went right and what went wrong for the team, especially in regards to the Ventura match, which went right down to the wire. A minor change could have flipped that match in a completely opposite direction. Player Sarah Anderson spoke with the Corsair about the team's situation during these defeats.

"Our Coach said we gave the matches away, and we seem to be. There's a big problem without intensity, we just go on autopilot."

With the problem perhaps pinpointed and the coaches clearly ready to loosen that kink causing these problems, it will be interesting to see how the team will change its approach in the future. The next women's tennis match is tomorrow, where the Lady Corsairs will face Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.