After the San Jose State women’s tennis team had an impressive season and won the Mountain West championship, the Spartans’ lost their doubles and singles matches 4-0 against the University of California, Berkeley during the first round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship.
Friday’s match was played in Berkeley and ended with the second and final loss of the Spartans’ season.
“I did tell [the athletes] at the end of the match that although our season has ended, you have to look back and reflect and be very proud,” head coach Chad Skorupka said in a Twitter video posted to the SJSU women’s tennis account on Friday. “Be proud of the way you played as a team and how you represented San Jose State and everyone involved with this team and program.”
Although Skorupka said a coach never likes to lose, SJSU had great losses in its doubles and singles matches.
SJSU junior Alba Pedrero Galindo and sophomore Lara Marco Mas faced off against Cal senior Julia Rosenqvist and sophomore Valentina Ivanov in doubles, but Match 2 was unfinished because Cal won the first two sets.
Cal senior Anna Bright and freshman Hannah Viller Moeller maintained a strong hold against SJSU graduate student Tamara Culibrk and freshman Irena Muradyan.
The Bears won Match 2 6-0, which left the competition score 1-0.
Spartans’ freshman Raquel Villan Pereira and sophomore Rozalina Youseva lost 6-3 against the Bears freshman Jada Bui and sophomore Erin Richardson.
Singles matches 1, 3 and 6 were left unfinished and SJSU lost all three completed matches against Cal.
Match five of singles concluded first, then matches two and four, respectively.
SJSU’s Pereira was able to secure two points in Set 1, Match 5, while Cal’s Bright won Set 1 6-2.
Bright continued the Bears’ domination in match five.
Pereira scored only one point for the Spartans in Set 2, which ended the match in a 6-1 win for the Bears and a 2-0 lead.
In Set 1, Match 2 Cal player Ivanov landed the first point and held a steady five-point lead. While SJSU’s Youseva landed two points, Cal won Set 1 6-2.
The Set 2, Match 2 was reminiscent of the first, with the Spartans trailing five points behind the Bears throughout the match.
Though SJSU was able to land one point, Cal ended Set 2 6-1 and secured Match 2. The competition a 3-0 lead for Cal.
SJSU’s Marco Mas was able to land the first point in Set 1 of Match 4, but Cal’s Viller Moeller scored six points in a row and secured Set 1.
Similarly to Set 1, SJSU landed the first point of Set 2, but a four-point lead from Cal put the team at an advantage.
The Spartans scored two points and almost tied the set 4-3, but plays by the Bears gave them Match 4 and left the total competition a 4-0 Bears’ victory.
It was the last competition of the season for SJSU, but Cal is scheduled to compete against University of Kentucky on May 8 in Berkeley.
“Now we can reflect and look at what we did this season,” Skorupka said. “15 wins and two losses is an incredible year, and obviously with the Covid situation and what all the teams and our team had to deal with. So I told them to leave here with their heads held high.”
