By Jimmy Friery
BAKERSFIELD, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Women's Tennis team lost at Bakersfield on Thursday, 6-3.
"Today was a tough loss," head coach Chris Pope said. "We didn't perform the way I expected us to. I thought we'd get our first win today."
Carmen Tzab and Kate Zeile continued their strong start to the season. They cruised in their 1 doubles match 8-3—their only loss as a tandem so far came in a 9-7 match against Glendale.
"They've been playing so good lately. They're really finding their game out there," Pope said. "I think they're the best doubles team in the league right now."
Sierra Bolanos and Nicole O'Malley fell in their 2 doubles match, and the Vaqueros defaulted 3 doubles.
Tzab won a hard-fought 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 super tiebreaker in 1 singles before Zeile won a polarizing 6-1, 2-6, 10-5 super tiebreaker, as well, in 2 singles. Zeile got injured at the end of the first set but gutted out the win nonetheless.
"Thankfully, the third set was a super tiebreaker, not a full third; otherwise, I'm not sure if she would have played," Pope said of Zeile. "I gave her the option to forfeit the match since she was in a lot of pain, but she was determined to finish it out. And she did, and she won! I think that'll give her a lot of confidence for future matches, that she can win against tough opponents even when she can't play her A game.
"[Tzab and Zeile] both won their singles match, Callie at 1 and Kate at 2; both in the third set super tie-break. Crazy! They didn't flinch when the match got difficult. I am proud of them."
The 3-5 singles matches did not fair well for the Vaqueros, who lost all three in 2 sets. The 6 default made the final score 6-3 Bakersfield.
"Each time we play I see good things from all the girls. They learn a lot from their matches, and we then go into practice and work on those things. I see their determination to get better and it shows on court," Pope concluded. "We've only played four matches so far, and we have ten more to go in our conference. The road is long but I think we'll be in a good position by the end of the season."
The Vaqueros look for their first win next week with two home matches—Tuesday against Antelope Valley and Thursday against Canyons.
Doubles:
1. Carmen Tzab/Kate Zeile (SBCC) def. Lua/Rusinova (BC) 8-3
2. Kratt/Vargas (BC) def. Sierra Bolanos/Nicole O'Malley (SBCC) 8-2
3. SBCC defaulted (L)
Singles:
1. Carmen Tzab (SBCC) def. Kratt (BC) 6-4, 4-6, 10-7
2. Kate Zeile (SBCC) def. Rusinova (BC) 6-1, 2-6, 10-5
3. Lua (BC) def. Sierra Bolanos (SBCC) 6-1, 6-4
4. Vargas (BC) def. Nicole O'Malley (SBCC) 6-2, 6-1
5. Aguilar (BC) def. Anna Kronberg (SBCC) 6-2, 6-3
6. SBCC defaulted (L)
