Lady Corsairs dominate; advance to final

If you imagined that the women's tennis squad would crumble under the pressure of sporting the number one seed entering playoffs last Tuesday, you would have been sorely mistaken. The Corsairs offered skeptics a booming wake-up call in their meet against Mt. San Antonio College, sending the Mounties packing with a decisive 5-0 victory.

To those that were interested in the results of the sensational team's doubles results for the match, the Corsairs forged ahead. Winning the first five singles matches against San Antonio, SMC secured a ‘W' for the day by default and rendered doubles competition unnecessary.

SMC was so dominant out of the gates that they were even prevented from finishing all of their singles matches. This was the case for Sophomore Anastasia Eliseeva, whose match was halted by the officials in the second set due to early victory for the Corsairs.

Eliseeva, from Russia, was engaged in a highly competitive match with her opponent Stacey Peng, leaving fans disappointed to see it go unfinished. She sliced a beautiful drop shot to take the second game of the first set and delivered an exceptional volley to take the third.

Getting the wins on the day however were Jutta Collet, Tiana Lauritzen, Alix Thomas, Gwendolyn Kauffman, and Kimberly Penez.

"My girl was very good and hit the ball very well. She was tough today," said Kauffman after her match, which she took 6-1, 6-2. "I ran the net really well and started racking up points, so it turned out pretty well, but I definitely am going to work on my volley this week."

Freshman Jutta Collet had arguably one of the toughest battles of the day, working her way through vicious rallies against the Mounties' Julianne Carluen. However, after taking the first set by winning an exhausting tie-beaker, it was smooth sailing to victory for the French phenomenon.

"I struggled in the first set because I wasn't attacking very well, but then I started being more consistent," said Collet.

Head Coach Richard Goldenson seemed pretty confident in the girls from the get-go, sharing what he discussed with the girls before their match. "I told them that if they played their best, all will be well, and they did exactly that. We're just going to work on the same things in practice this week that we've been working on all season, seeing as it has got us this far," he said.

Evident from their sweep of Mt. San Antonio, the Corsairs have greatly improved their individual skills by working to make each other better in practice.

"My teammates have changed my game so much," said Kauffman. "We learn from each other by playing against each other, and we can develop our own shots by the advice we receive."

The Corsairs continue their run towards a championship next Tuesday, as they prepare for a semi-final match-up against Orange Coast College on April 27 at 2 p.m.