The No. 6 Pomona-Pitzer women’s tennis team went 2-0 last weekend with wins against league opponents No. 16 University of La Verne and California Lutheran University. On Friday, April 11—P-P’s Senior Day—the Sagehens (13-5, 6-1 SCIAC) defeated La Verne 6-3 at Pauley Tennis Complex. The following day, P-P took an 8-1 win over Cal Lutheran on Saturday, April 12 at their Poulson Tennis Center.
On Friday afternoon, the Sagehens came out strong against the La Verne Leopards, going 2-1 in team doubles matches. Sammy Chao PO ’14 and Lea Lynn Yen PO ’16 took an early lead in their doubles match and went on to win 8-2 at court No. 1. The first-year duo of Rosemary Pelch PO ’17 and Maddie Gordon PO ’17 also won 8-2 at No. 3. Pelch and Gordon each went on to win their singles matches as well.
In the singles competitions, the Sagehens kept their momentum going, winning four of the six matches. Gordon defeated her opponent in a quick 6-0, 6-3 win to put the Sagehens up 3-1. However, La Verne took two quick victories of their own at No. 1 and No. 3 to tie the score 3-3. Fitting for her Senior Day, Claire Willey PZ ’14 won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 6 to put P-P back on top. Pelch then won in a close 7-5, 7-5 decision at No. 5 to give the Sagehens a 5-3 lead, clinching them the win. Mae Coyiuto PO ’16 won the final match for P-P, taking a 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 10-6 decision at No. 2. After going 4-2 in the singles matches, the Sagehens won by an overall score of 6-3.
Captain Arthi Padmanabhan PO ’14 was happy with her team’s performance against La Verne and grateful after her Senior Day.
“La Verne has been strong this year, so a solid win over them gives us confidence as we head into the end of season,” Padmanabhan said. “The team and coaches made our Senior Day really special, with framed portraits and a jar of handwritten notes from everyone we’ve been on the team with in the last four years. It’s such an honor and joy to play on this team.”
P-P followed the win against La Verne with another victory against Cal Lutheran. Alex Antonopolis PO ’14 and Constance Wu PO ’14 began the doubles matches with an 8-0 victory at No. 3. Padmanabhan and Coyiuto won 8-3 at No. 1, with each going on to win in their singles matches. At No. 2, Gordon and Pelch won their doubles match 8-5, and each went on to win her singles match, giving both of them undefeated weekends.
After going 3-0 in the doubles matches, P-P stayed strong in the singles matches. Wiley won her match 6-1, 6-0 at No. 6, her second singles win in two days. At No. 3, Padmanabhan won 6-0, 6-2. Coyiuto took her match 6-4, 6-1 at No. 2. Gordon won her match 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4 while her doubles partner, Pelch, won 6-0, 6-3 at No. 5. After taking five of the six singles matches, the Sagehens won by a final score of 8-1 against the Regals.
The Sagehens were content with their team’s overall improvement against Cal Lutheran and La Verne.
“I think the team as a whole improves with each match that we play,” Chao said. “People are doing much better job of being aggressive and taking care of business. Our last two opponents were tough and tricky at times, so I was really happy to see that people stayed focused and took control of their matches.”
P-P will be back in action today at 2 p.m. when they take on Whittier College for its final home match of the regular season. After the Whittier match, the Sagehens will play in the Ojai Tournament April 24-27 before the SCIAC Championships the following weekend. P-P looks to end its regular season with a win against Whittier.
“We like to approach all matches the same way, and Whittier is no exception,” Padmanabhan said. “We hope to end our regular season on a high note and we’re looking forward to the SCIAC tournament and postseason.”