(Photo by Max Bechtoldt)
By Emma Yuan (@EmtheReporter) – Reporter
San Jose State’s women’s tennis struggled in its home match against Santa Clara University, losing overall 4-3.
SJSU was crushed by Santa Clara in its doubles matches 6-1 and 6-1, leaving the third doubles match unfinished at a loss of 5-2.
The Spartans dug in their heels and refused to give up during their singles matches.
The squeaking of the players’ tennis shoes on the court cut through the discordant sounds of two different loudspeakers playing different late 2000s pop music playlists on either side of the arena. SJSU duck, Dac, was present in the small crowd of under ten spectators, waving his loaf of bread to cheer the players on.
There were a total of three tiebreaker games across all their matches, with SJSU winning two of the tie breakers.
Irena Muradyan shouted with exertion for every swing of her tennis racket on court four.
Coach Chad Skorupka sat on a stool by one of the courts, rotating his head back and forth between one set of courts and the other, calling out encouraging words to his players. Assistant coaches moved between individual players to speak to them more one on one.
Oleksandra Andrieieva yelled triumphantly every time she scored a point on court two.
The last two matches to finish were on courts four with Murdayan and court six with Lara Marco Mas. Muradyan was still shouting with exertion for every swing of her racket over an hour later.
SJSU won on court six 7-5 to leave court four as the last match.
As afternoon shadows stretched across the tennis courts, the match went to a tie breaker.
Muradyan served first, returning the ball just too far back behind the line to lose the point. The crowd clapped at each serve, cheering and whistling for each point.
Then SJSU received the ball and the two players went back and forth, back and forth, battling for each point. The score crept up incrementally 5-5, then 6-5, then unfortunately 7-5 as Murdayan just barely missed returning a shot.
At a three hour and forty minute match, the Spartans showed their incredible grit and heart.
Their next home match is against UC Davis on Feb. 26 at 12 p.m.
