With the Amy S. Harrison Classic beginning on the green lawns of campus and fans filing into the Student Recreation Center Arena, it’s very easy to forget about the rest of the Highlander sports programs competing around the Big West Conference.
The men’s tennis team squared off against UC San Diego on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Andulka Park in Riverside, Calif. Cooper Bridge and Michael Carella both won in their singles, but the Highlanders fell to the Tritons 5-2. Playing its second conference match of the season, UC Riverside again was defeated handily by Cal Poly, 7-0.
The Mustangs won both doubles matches by the slimmest of margins, 8-7. The singles were a much more straightforward affair as the team secured five of six games in straight sets. “We are improving, but we just need a breakthrough,” UCR Head Coach Tim Downey stated. “We will see a whole new team soon.”
The women’s tennis team didn’t fare any better. The Highlanders only won a singles match in a 6-1 loss to Loyola Marymount. Freshman Jasmine Almaguer defeated LMU’s Kristine Kouyoumjian 7-6, 1-6, 10-8 in UCR’s lone point on the day.
The Highlanders, however, competed better against Southern Utah. The women’s tennis won the doubles point, securing two of the three games played. In singles, UCR’s Almaguer earned a 6-1, 6-4 victory against Alex Ivanova while teammate Thahn Doan also won in three sets. Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds won four of the six singles games, earning the victory over UC Riverside, 4-3.
The golfers of UC Riverside hit the links over the weekend as the men’s team competed in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif.
With 23 teams participating, the tournament featured some of the best golf teams in the nation. UC Riverside’s David Gazzolo tied for fifth place overall in the event, but the Highlanders as a team only finished 19th out of 23 teams.
UCR fired rounds of 300-293-296 for the weekend and tied with Wyoming, while finishing three strokes ahead of Southern Utah.
Oregon won the whole competition with a final score of 837, three strokes ahead of Colorado (840).
Texas Christian University’s Julien Brun won individual honors, firing a score of 203, 13-under-par.
UC Riverside will now prepare for the Fresno State Lexus Classic beginning on March 10.
