Westmont Women’s Tennis (1-4, 0-4 GSAC) suffered an 8-1 loss to Azusa Pacific (4-0, 4-0 GSAC) on Tuesday afternoon at the Abbott Tennis Courts on the Montecito campus.
“Overall, I was pleased,” said head coach Kathy LeSage about her team’s performance against the third ranked team in the NAIA. “I thought we came out and fought hard. Overall, I thought we played the first sets tough. I was a little disappointed that the score indicated that we didn’t try as hard in some of the second sets.”
Westmont’s only win came at number two singles where Cassie Strange defeated Casey Wetzig by scores of 6-2, 6-2.
“It was tough,” said Strange. “My opponent was very good and I had my work cut out for me. We were playing a little off, but I ended up making more than she did. I wanted to stay consistent, stay positive, not get negative and make a lot of balls.”
“Cassie’s opponent was the one player that we knew enough about her game to feel confident,” said LeSage. “There were a lot of unknown players for Azusa Pacific that we didn’t know how to play.”
The Cougars’ Sheryl Bon and Westmont’s Ilissa Mathews battled at number one singles with Bon winning 7-5 in a close first set and then prevailing 6-2 in the second set.
Kristen Lee won the first set 6-1 at number three before losing 6-2, 6-4 in the next to sets to Emily Ignas of APU.
APU won handily in the bottom half of the singles matches. At number four Natalie McNall defeated Christina Klein 6-3, 6-0 while at number five Marie Tanaka defeated Sarah Kamida by the same scores. Leah Hoffee won on the number six court, defeating Sarah Chhum 6-2, 6-1.
In doubles action, Wetzig and Katy Jelsma defeated Mathews and Strange 8-5 on court one. Bon and Tanaka claimed the point at number two with an 8-2 win over Lee and Klein. Jessalyn Lau and Hoffee won at number three by the same score over Kamida and Chhum.
Westmont will look to turn the season around on Friday and Saturday. Friday, the Warriors will host California Lutheran at 2:00 p.m. and then head to La Mirada for a 11:00 a.m. match with Biola.
“We are disappointed that we have not been playing up to our potential,” said Strange, “but we are confident that we can play better and improve.”
#3 Azusa Pacific 8 Westmont 1
Singles
#1 – Sheryl Bon (APU) def. Ilissa Mathews (WC) 7-5, 6-2
#2 – Cassie Strange (WC) def. Casey Wetzig (APU) 6-2, 6-2
#3 – Emily Ignas (APU) def. Kristen Lee (WC) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
#4 – Natalie McNall (APU) def. Christina Klein (WC) 6-3, 6-0
#5 – Marie Tanaka (APU) def. Sarah Kamida (WC) 6-3, 6-0
#6 – Leah Hoffee (APU) def. Sarah Chhum (WC) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
#1 – Katy Jelsma /Casey Wetzig (APU) def. Ilissa Mathews / Cassie Strange (WC) 8-5
#2 – Sheryl Bon /Marie Tanaka (APU) def. Kristen Lee / Christina Klein (WC) 8-2
#3 – Jessalyn Lau /Leah Hoffee (APU) def. Sarah Kamida / Sarah Chhum (WC) 8-2
Records:
Azusa Pacific 4-0, 4-0 GSAC
Westmont 1-4, 0-4 GSAC
