Santa Monica edges Vaqueros 5-4 in WSC opener

Zion Lee, a former star at Santa Paula High, had a great college debut with wins in singles and doubles. (Photo by Lance Kronberg)
Zion Lee, a former star at Santa Paula High, had a great college debut with wins in singles and doubles. (Photo by Lance Kronberg)

Santa Monica jumped out to a 4-2 lead in singles on Tuesday, then held on to beat SBCC 5-4 in a WSC women's tennis opener in Santa Monica.

The Corsairs (1-1, 1-0) are the defending WSC champions after going 10-0 last year. The Vaqueros fell to 0-2 and 0-1.

"We gave the defending conference champs a run for their money," said coach Lance Kronberg. "Zion Lee had a solid singles performance in her first match for SBCC, playing great all-court tennis (in a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 3). She also won with Gabriela McDaniel in a very tight doubles match."

Edda von Hodenberg earned two points for the Vaqueros, taking the No. 6 singles 6-1, 6-2 and the No. 3 doubles set with Amanda Berke 9-7. Mayra Jovic and Isabel Nazdraonly got the decisive point for Santa Monica with an 8-2 win in No. 1 doubles.

SBCC will play the next three matches at home, starting Thursday against Ventura at 2 p.m.

Singles
1. Mayra Jovic, SM, def. Marcela Massaglia 6-3, 6-0
2. Izabel Nazdraonly, SM, def. Maddie Seeds 6-3, 6-2
3. Zion Lee, SBCC, def. Shanntel Patterson 6-3, 6-3
4. Lauren Vozers, SM, def. Gabriela McDaniel 6-0, 6-1
5. Elin Nyberg, SM, def. Amanda Berke 6-1, 6-4
6. Edda von Hodenberg, SBCC, def. Kiya Bodden 6-1, 6-2

Doubles
1. Jovic/Nazdraonly, SM, def. Massaglia/Seeds 8-2
2. Lee/McDaniel, SBCC, def. Vozers/Nyberg 9-8 (7)
3. Berke/Von Hodenberg, SBCC, def. Patterson/Bodden 9-7