Regals Tennis beat William Jessup to remain unbeaten
March 3, 2023
California Lutheran University’s women’s tennis team beat the William Jessup Warriors with a score of 7-2, further elevating their record of 3-0 this season. The Regals’ 3-0 record currently stands as the best among members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach Mike Gennette said that the Regals are still an up-and-coming team, but that their 3-0 start to the season has been great.
“I think it’s giving them a little bit of confidence…they’re getting to play their way in…get some experience,” Gennette said. “There’s teams that we’re chasing that have a target on, so we still have some work to do.”
In National Collegiate Athletic Association D-III tennis matches, three doubles matches are played followed by six singles matches. This results in a total of nine matches played with each contributing to a point on the overall scoreboard.
Sophomore pair Carmen Bufkin and Luisa Garcia, junior Henna Levanen and first-year Reya Maestas and sophomore Kayla Kling and junior Lauren Sebastian all won their doubles matches to secure a 3-0 lead for the Regals going into singles matches.
The Regals continued to dominate when singles began, picking up commanding wins at the No. 5 and No. 6 spots by way of Levanen and Kling. Bufkin and Maestas battled hard and picked up an additional two points for the Regals with a win each.
“I did overall pretty well. It was a little windy and we haven’t played for about a week, I think I did well with that and kind of worked around that,” Levanen said.
Sophomore Mina Ahmadi and Garcia were the only two Regals who faced defeat.
Cal Lutheran’s win comes after a week of limited practice and two canceled games due to weather. Despite the setbacks, the Regals made the most of their time by utilizing the indoor facilities on campus.
“We practiced in the gym and so we got to hit balls in there, we did fitness, and we did some mental training also, so we still tried to keep ourselves as sharp as possible,” Gennette said.
The move indoors did not come without improvisations, though, as Kling said that they set up tennis courts in the gym using carpets.
“It definitely did make practice a lot harder, it’s a lot easier being on the court and actually having a net. When we were playing in the gym, it was kind of difficult to see in there but I mean it was nice to at least be able to go into the gym and play for a little bit while it was raining,” Levanen said.
The Regals’ unbeaten start has given them more self-assurance; however, they have remained wary of their competition.
“I think it’s good for our confidence and just building up our team morale, but I don’t know if it gives us an advantage because there’s always another team that could possibly be better,” Kling said.
Cal Lutheran’s next game is at home against Babson College on Monday, March 13.
