Cal Poly women’s tennis suffered a narrow defeat on Saturday by a score of 4-3 to Cal State University, Northridge before taking down Loyola Marymount University 4-3 the day after at the Matador Tennis Complex.
It was the Mustangs (6-6, 1-1 Big West) first conference match since playing UC Davis on Feb. 3.
Narrow defeat against Big West opponent
Looking to build upon their momentum from their win against Santa Clara, the women traveled south to take on CSUN, who sit atop the Big West standings.
After jumping out to an early 3-0 lead against the Matadors (6-1, 2-0 Big West), the women fell short in their next three singles matches, bringing the score to three points apiece.
The match came down to sophomore Kennedy Buntrock, playing at the No. 4 spot. In her last singles outing, against Santa Clara, she had a dominant performance as she defeated her opponent 6-1, 6-1.
With a 3-3 tie, Buntrock looked to best her opponent and secure the road win for the Mustangs. But, after a hard fight that came down to tiebreakers in both sets, she dropped the match by a score of 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Highlighting the doubles was graduate student Melissa LaMette and junior Romane Mosse with a 6-4 win, improving their record to 6-3 on the season at the No. 2 spot.
Fifth-year Delanie Dunkle and junior Peyton Dunkle improved their doubles record to 8-2 on the season, good for their fifth doubles win in a row. With 49 wins, Delanie moved into fourth place in all-time career doubles victories in Cal Poly history.
Saturday marked the seventh time this season the Mustangs have started off the duel by winning the doubles point.
In singles, the Mustangs had strong showings from No. 1 Delanie and No. 6 Mosse, as both of them won in straight-set victories.
After them, No. 2 Peyton, No. 3 LaMette and sophomore Alexandra Ozerets, playing at the No. 5, all lost their matches in three sets.
The Mustangs had another chance to get into the win column for the weekend, as they completed their road trip with a date against Loyola Marymount on Sunday.
Bounce back win in final non-conference game
Coming off a nail-biting 4-3 Big West loss to the CSU Northridge Matadors on Friday, the Mustangs looked to even their record on the weekend road trip against Loyola Marymount.
Late-match heroics from Cal Poly’s last lines sparked a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the LMU Lions.
Eight times now on the season the Mustangs have been able to grab the doubles point to give them an early 1-0 on the opponent.
Junior Eliza Bates and Buntrock were the first pair of Mustangs to win their doubles match, taking down their opponents 6-1.
Today the Dunkles clinched for the Mustangs, Peyton and Delanie came out on top 6-2, extending their win streak to six straight matches, they are 9-2 on the year as a pair.
It was a back-and-forth affair when singles got rolling, Ozerets put the Mustangs back on top 2-1 after she gutted out a straight set 6-2, 6-4 win.
Cal Poly had fallen behind 2-3 with their No. 5 and No. 6 lines still battling it out.
Mosse playing No. 5 put the pressure on LMU after a convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory, adding to her own five-match singles win streak, and evening the contest at 3-3.
In her first time playing singles in a month, Bates at No. 6 had a chance to win the deciding match and clinch the contest for the Mustangs.
Bates took the first set 7-5, but her opponent stormed back and evened the match with a 6-2 second set win.
Headed now to a third set, both teams eagerly watching in suspense. Bates, with all the pressure on her, cruised to a 6-1 victory in the third set, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, the final.
Cal Poly now 6-6 on the season, will continue their Big West schedule when they travel to UC San Diego on Friday, March 15.