Cal Poly Women’s Tennis was unable to find a win over Feb. 24 and Feb. 25 as the team dropped matches to No. 39 BYU and Fresno State. In the Mustangs’ five losses this season, four have come against ranked opponents.
Dunkle sisters pick up double win but Mustangs fall to No. 39 BYU
–Oluwalanayo Somotun
Cal Poly Women’s Tennis (4-4) fell 5-2 to No. 39 BYU on Saturday at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center in Fresno.
Though they couldn’t secure the doubles point, the duo of fifth-year Delanie Dunkle and junior Peyton Dunkle continued their impressive season with a 6-4 victory at the No. 1 doubles spot. The Dunkles improved to 5-2 as partners this year.
BYU won at the No. 2 and 3 spots to gain the point in doubles.
In singles, sophomore Kennedy Buntrock earned a straight-set victory at the No. 5 spot, 6-3, 6-1, to tie up the score 1-1. Buntrock moved to 5-1 on the year with her win.
Junior Romane Mosse took a hard-fought three-set match at the No. 6 spot, going 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. The win was her fourth dual singles victory as a Mustang.
BYU took wins at the No. 2, No. 1, No. 4, and No. 3 spots in order to take the entire match 5-2.
Cal Poly wins doubles point but falters in singles against Fresno State
Dylan Allen
The Cal Poly Women’s Tennis team has now dropped four consecutive duel matches after coming up just short against Fresno State on Sunday by a score of 4-3 at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center.
The Mustangs’ loss against the Bulldogs is their first defeat at the hands of an unranked opponent this season. Their last four losses all came from currently ranked teams, including No. 39 BYU on Saturday.
The Mustangs (4-5,1-0 Big West) were 4-0 this year after winning the doubles point, but the Bulldogs (6-4) changed that.
Continuing their hot streak, the duo of fifth-year Delanie Dunkle and junior Peyton Dunkle started things off with a dominant 6-1 victory. It’s the sisters’ third straight doubles win and puts their record at 6-2 on the year.
At the No. 3 doubles spot, sophomores Kennedy Buntrock and Alexandra Ozerets had no trouble clinching the point for the Mustangs as they cruised to a 6-2 win.
With an early 1-0 lead, the women found themselves in a familiar spot but were unable to hang on, falling short at the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 5 singles matches.
Peyton and Ozerets, playing at the No. 2 and No. 5 spots, both took their opponents to third sets but couldn’t secure the win.
With four singles losses, Fresno State went up 4-1 and clinched Sunday’s duel.
As for the No. 3 and No. 6 spots, they were both able to notch singles victories even after the duel was won. Playing at the No. 3, graduate student Melissa LaMette scraped out a win after dropping her first set. She won the last two 6-4, 6-3.
At the No. 6 spot, junior Romane Mosse dropped the first set as well but was able to stay focused to grab the second and third sets by a score of 6-4.
Cal Poly will return home for their first home match since Feb. 3 after their lengthy six-duel road trip. The women will take on Montana State on Friday, March 3, and then Santa Clara on Sunday, March 3. Both matches are set to start at noon at the Mustang Tennis Complex.