The California Lutheran University women’s tennis team hosted Bates College at the Poulson Tennis Center Feb. 24. The match marked the third game of the season for the Regals.

With their record currently set at 0-2, they were determined to get a win over the Bates Bobcats. The Regals previously lost to Brandeis University and Westmont College. Being the second home match of the season, the Regals looked to come out with a win.   

Junior Christie Kurdys and senior Gianna Cupo took the court against their opponents from Bates. The Bates doubles team came out with strong serves and returns but this did not bring the Regals down. The Regals took this match one set at a time.

The Cal Lutheran doubles team kept the Bates team on their toes throughout the entire match. More specifically, some highlights from this match were the good hustle and strong serves from the Regals’ side.

“The team is working really hard towards our goal and improving on it. It’s just gonna take some time,” Kurdys said.

Although the Regals continued to put pressure on the Bobcats throughout a very close match, the Bobcats did an exceptional job at returning the ball and making tricky shots for the Regals. These highlights resulted in a final score of 8-5 in favor of the Bobcats.

Going forward in the season, Kurdys said that she would like to improve on “being more confident on the court and cheering everyone on and keeping everything positive.”

Aside from what she would like to improve on, Kurdys said she is excited about this coming season because the women’s tennis team has a new coach, Mike Gennette.

“He’s got a lot of plans for us. He’s got it all written down and I’m excited to see at the end of the season where we end up,” Kurdys said.

Savannah Avina, assistant coach to Gennette, was happy with how the Regals have been performing up to the competition, especially during the tough doubles matches.

“In doubles, the girls are doing really well with the closeouts and really pushing forward at the net is what was big,” Avina said.

Although Avina was content with the womens’ performance, she also expressed many areas that the team still needs to work on. Avina said that the biggest thing she would like to see the players improve on is high percentage first serves and returns. Along with working on these skills, Avina said she is excited to travel and bond as a team.

“I think that’s the biggest thing, have fun and see some tight matches,” Avina said.

Junior Sarah Seeman came out on top in her singles match with her first win of the season. She said she was proud of her team for working together and cheering for each other especially during the close matches.

“It’s the most important thing, because when the match is close, whoever is cheering more and pumping up their team tend to be the one who comes out on top,” Seeman said. She said is excited for this season because she hopes the team will do their best especially in the Southern California Intercollegiat Athletic Conference matches. Seeman said that as a team, she hopes to see everyone improve on doubles this season and get stronger at the net.

Even though most of the matches were very close and the Regals pushed hard, Saturday night did not end in the their favor with a final score of 8-1.

Luisa Virgen
Reporter