By Emma Yuan (@emthereporter) – Reporter
San Jose State came out swinging in its season opener, beating Sacramento State 6-1.
“It was really nice to see Oleksandra [Andrieieva] at number one win her first collegiate match for San Jose State,” said head coach Chad Skorupka.
Players bent over and wiggled back and forth anticipating each serve under the hot noon sun. During doubles matches, players would sometimes fist bump each other going back and forth across the court as things went in SJSU’s favor.
The small crowd of less than 30 attendants paid quiet attention as the teams transitioned into six simultaneous singles matches. The line judges’ point calls and the grunts of efforts by the players could be heard clearly throughout the tennis courts.
To keep track of all the matches taking place at once, SJSU’s head coach had help.
“My assistant coach had COVID so two players stepped up as assistant coaches,” said Skorupka.
The final match boiled down to a tiebreaker with Alba Pedrero Galindo of SJSU beating Sac State 10-6.
“Sac State was a better team than they were last year, they just got a new head coach,” said Skorupka.
Their bodies might’ve been bent over with exhaustion but their spirits remained unbroken.
“We know what our goal is, of course, it’s getting to where we were last year,” says head coach Chad Skorupka.
SCORES
San Jose State 6, Sacramento State 1
Singles competition
1. Oleksandra Andrieieva [w] (SJSU) def. Maddy Ferreros (SAC) 6-3, 6-0
2. Alba Pedrero Galindo [w] (SJSU) def. Tsveti Yotova (SAC) 1-6, 6-3, 10-6
3. Weronika Ejsmont (SAC) def. Raquel Villan Pereira [L] (SJSU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Rozalina Youseva [w] (SJSU) def. Paige Alter (SAC) 6-1, 6-4
5. Jovana Babic [w] (SJSU) def. Megan Tagaloa (SAC) 6-1, 6-0
6. Lara Marco Mas [w] (SJSU) def. Alexis Johnson (SAC) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Tsveti Yotova/Paige Alter (SAC) def. Oleksandra Andrieieva/Raquel Villan Pereira (SJSU) 6-4
2. Alba Pedrero Galindo/Lara Marco Mas (SJSU) def. Weronika Ejsmont/Megan Tagaloa (SAC) 6-4
3. Rozalina Youseva/Jovana Babic (SJSU) def. Maddy Ferreros/Alexis Johnson (SAC) 7-5