Kolkman sparks 5-4 win in first-place showdown

Zionne Lee, left, and Tess Kolkman won the No. 2 doubles set 8-1 for the winning point on Tuesday, boosting their record to 3-0 on the year.
Zionne Lee, left, and Tess Kolkman won the No. 2 doubles set 8-1 for the winning point on Tuesday, boosting their record to 3-0 on the year.

By Dave Loveton, SBCC Sports Information

Tess Kolkman continued her perfect season and helped SBCC get revenge on Santa Monica in a WSC women's tennis match at Pershing Park. After dropping a 5-4 decision at Santa Monica on Feb. 17 without Kolkman, the Vaqueros returned the favor with a 5-4 victory on Tuesday.

It was the sixth straight win for the Vaqueros (6-2, 5-1), who remained in a first-place tie with Glendale and dropped the Corsairs to 4-2 in conference.

Kolkman, a left-handed freshman from Warmond, Holland, blanked Lauren Voiers 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and teamed with Zionne Lee to take the No. 2 doubles 8-1. Kolkman is a perfect 6-0 in singles and 5-0 in doubles.

After dropping her first set of the year to Katy Scheck of Ventura on Feb. 10, Kolkman has won 12 straight singles sets and is 74-4 in games. In doubles, she's won 40 of 49 games.

"The main difference between that first match at Santa Monica and today's match is we had Tess Kolkman in the lineup," said coach Lance Kronberg. "There's nothing fun about having to play her. She fights for every single point. She constantly changes her shots up, the pace, the spin and she defends everything.

"If you watch a few points, it looks like she isn't doing anything. If you watch a set, you see her slowly dismantle her opponent. Since she's been in the lineup, we haven't lost."

Zionne Lee also won twice with a 6-1, 7-5 victory at No. 4 singles and the 8-1 triumph in No. 2 doubles with Kolkman.

"Marcela Massaglia also came up big for us," Kronberg pointed out. "Her 6-1 6-3 score didn't show how close the match really was. She had a rough outing at San Diego Mesa last week, and didn't have her best game going today, but she was able fight through it."

SBCC will play four of its last five regular-season matches on the road, starting Thursday with a 2 p.m. match at Ventura.

Singles
1. Mayra Jovic, SM, def. Maddie Seeds 6-3, 6-1
2. Marcela Massaglia, SBCC, def. Izabel Nazdracheva 6-1, 6-2
3. Tess Kolkman, SBCC, def. Lauren Voiers 6-0, 6-0
4. Zionne Lee, SBCC, def. Shawntel Patterson 6-1, 7-5
5. Elin Nyberg, SM, def. Gabriela McDaniel 6-3, 6-4
6. Amanda Berke, SBCC, def. Sammie Xiao 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. Jovic/Nazdracheva, SM, def. Seeds/Massaglia 8-3
2. Kolkman/Lee, SBCC, def. Voiers/Nyberg 8-1
3. Patterson/Xiao, SM, def.  McDaniel/Edda von Hodenberg 8-3