After back-to-back games were canceled for the San Diego State women’s tennis team, it couldn’t secure a victory against Oregon as it lost 7-0 at the Aztec Tennis Center.
COVID-19 health and safety concerns forced the Aztecs to forfeit their No. 3 doubles match along with the No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches.
In order to meet the Intercollegiate Tennis Association standards, SDSU played with only four student-athletes in order to play the dual match against the Ducks.
SDSU has already had matches against Gonzaga and Point Loma canceled so head coach Peter Mattera carried on to get his remaining athletes some on-court competition.
“We knew it was the right thing to do to get the players some quality competition,” Mattera said. “That’s one thing that we are sorely lacking.”
Playing for the first time together, junior Regina Pitts and freshman Cecile Moran met with senior Rifnay Kahfiani and freshman Uxia Martinez Moral on the first court. The Ducks duo took the point over Pitts and Moran 6-2 in a relatively quick fashion.
SDSU senior Abbie Mulbarger and freshman Alexandria Von Tersch Porter met a similar fate against the freshmen pair of Lillian Mould and Janice Tjen, falling 6-1 on the second court.
In singles play, the Aztecs continued their struggles in the four matches on the court.
Looking to court one, Pitts fell behind to Tjen and was unable to come back, losing 6-2, 6-0.
Mulbarger faced similar struggles facing Martinez Moral on court three as she took a 6-1, 6-2 loss.
Despite the tough losses, Mulbarger believed that she and her teammates still fought hard and are close to a breakout.
“I think a lot of our matches were closer than they seemed with a lot of close points,” Mulbarger said. “I think a lot of us are right there at the turning point — we just need a couple more matches under our belt.
Tersch Porter was placed on court four to face senior Julia Eshet and absorbed a hard 6-1, 6-1 loss.
Morin, however, fought tooth and nail against Mould on court three, taking the freshman to a seventh point in both sets. However, she too lost in close fashion as the final score read 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4).
SDSU looks to rebound as they open up Mountain West Conference play Saturday, March 27 against Fresno State at the Aztec Tennis Center.
