SBCC gave Irvine Valley a battle before falling 5-2 in a Southern California Team Duals women’s tennis quarterfinal on Tuesday in Irvine. The Vaqueros, seeded fifth, end the team season with a 10-3 record while the fourth-seeded Lasers improve to 11-3.
It was the first playoff appearance in nine years fo Santa Barbara, which got wins from Terea Tapu and Anna Sluytova in singles. Slyutova is 12-1 this year. Amy Sagraves suffered a close 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 loss at No. 1 and Kendra Ross dropped a three-setter, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
“Those two almost won and we had it on our racquet,” said coach Debbie Ekola. “The girls played very well. I’m proud of this team.”
SBCC will compete in the WSC Individual Championships on Friday and Saturday at Ventura College. On April 22-25, they’ll send six players to the prestigious Ojai Invitational. Sagraves and Meghan Schaeffer will compete in singles with Ross-Lindsay Penner and Tapu-Slyutova in the doubles.
Irvine Valley 5, SBCC 2. Singles–Natali Lorina, IV, def. Amy Sagraves 3-6, 6-2, 6-4; Tina Zuong, IV, def. Meghan Schaeffer 6-0, 6-3; Luba Sigaty, IV, def. Kendra Ross 6-3, 5-7, 6-4; Terea Tapu, SB, def. Katie Billings 6-4, 7-5; Anna Slyutova, SB, def. Erin Kang 6-0, 6-3; Sandi Richards, IV, def. Meike van Hoogenhuijze 6-0, 6-3. Doubles–Zuong-Billings, IV, def. Ross-Lindsay Penner 6-1, 6-2. Records–SB 10-3. IV 11-3
