Opening up the last homestand of the season, No. 50 Cal Poly Women’s Tennis faced Big West foe the UC San Diego Tritons in a match with extreme conference tournament implications.
The Mustangs (16-3, 5-1 Big West) rose to the pressure and took down the Tritons (9-8, Big West 4-3) in a tightly contested 5-2 dual, extending their win streak to seven games and cementing them firmly in second place in Big West standings.
UC San Diego jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after taking the doubles point.
Singles play has been where the Mustangs have excelled all year long. Their season record is now up to 80-27 overall, and they have won just under 75% of the singles matchups.
Friday would be no different.
Getting the Mustangs on the board early comes at line No. 4, junior Sasha Ozerets.
Ozerets looked comfortable in every aspect on the court, her only obstacle came on the very first game of the match, where her opening serve was broken. She settled in and played her consistent game, trusting her ground, and cruised to a 6-2, 6-2.
Only in her junior year, Ozerets has already cracked Cal Poly’s top 10 for most matches won in a career; she climbs to eighth in program history and is building upon an impressive 14-4 record this season.
With the Mustangs looking to take the lead, the next match nearing its conclusion would be over on court No. 5 with freshman phenom Jessica MacCallum.
MacCallum was faced with a tough opponent but easily outlasted her 6-2, 6-3, giving Cal Poly a 2-1 overall lead.
The freshman’s fantastic season keeps getting better; she is now 15-3 on the year, riding a six-match win streak.
On court No. 2, senior Peyton Dunkle is one match closer to program history.
With the 6-3, 6-0 victory on Friday, the senior now sits just two victories behind Carol Erickson’s program record of 51 career wins.
At line No. 6, sophomore Natalie Lynch was closing in on finishing off the Tritons.
Lynch was up 6-2, 5-4, and serving out the match, but her opponent started to make her earn every point and broke her serve. The sophomore battled back and forced a tiebreaker, taking control of the match with a second set, 7-6 (7-5).
Lynch, with the clinch at line No. 6, improved her season record to 13-4, and with that, the Mustangs took down the Tritons. But there were still matches to be played.
On court No. 3, senior Romane Mosse was still battling her opponent and the windy conditions.
“It was a nightmare out there with the crazy winds,” Mosse said. “My opponent was playing great, she stayed on top of the baseline, and she made it hard to play my best game.”
Despite the early troubles dropping the first set 4-6, the senior and captain of the team dug deep, making adjustments and capturing the second set 6-3.
“I started to put a lot of spin on the ball and bringing her up to the net,” Mosse said. “She was a wall on the baseline and I felt that if I brought her up I had a better chance to pass her and change up the pace.”
Mosse’s plan worked, and she overcame her backboard of an opponent in a third-set tiebreaker 10-8.
Her record has improved to 12-6 this year.
Looking ahead, the Mustangs finish off their home season with two matches next week against the CSU Fullerton Titans (8-6, Big West 2-2) and the UC Irvine Anteaters (9-7, Big West 1-3).
