By Ricardo Garcia (@SJSURicardoG) — Reporter
The San Jose Women’s tennis team dropped its second game of a two-game road trip as they were outclassed by Saint Mary’s, by a score of 5-2.
SJSU got off to a shaky start in the match and could not bounce back in the second half of the match to bring it back in their favor.
The Spartans started with a doubles competition, where juniors Oleksandra Andrieieva and Laura Marco Mas were tasked with setting the tone early.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, they ran into a red-hot Gaels’ offense that put the pressure on early, taking the first game, by a score of 6-2. Saint Mary’s strong start was too much to handle for SJSU, which resulted in the Gaels taking the second game of doubles competition and securing the first point of the match.
The contest shifted to singles action with the Spartans backed into a corner. They needed to have a strong performance to try and establish some momentum to build on.
SJSU dropped its first singles match after fifth-year Mariia Kozyreva pulled out the win in the first set tiebreaker for the Gaels to go on and seal the deal in two sets. The Spartans answered right back with an uppercut of their own in the form of a second-game victory, which went to three sets.
Despite the hard-fought effort to try and contain the surging Saint Mary’s offense, the attempt was steamrolled in dominant fashion with three consecutive wins all in two sets each.
The Gaels handed the Spartans their fifth consecutive loss, a streak that began back in February against the University of Arizona. For Saint Mary’s, the win puts them at two wins in a row before squaring off against UCLA.
SJSU will try to snap its losing skid as it returns home to host UC San Diego Tuesday. Opening serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. at the Spartan tennis complex.