By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
Savannah Sendar improved her singles record to 8-0 as San Jose State’s women’s tennis defeated the Sacramento State Hornets 4-1.
The freshman stung senior Ana Loaiza Esquivias with a 2-0 victory to lead the Spartans (9-2) to their fifth straight win.
“I was little bit nervous today,” said Sendar. “I wasn’t as aggressive as I should’ve been. I kept working hard to keep the ball in the court and it worked out for me.”
With senior Sybille Gauvain sidelined with the flu, SJSU was down one of its best players going into Friday’s match against the Hornets (2-8).
The Spartans started off doubles with two quick wins for sophomore pair Tamara Culibrk and Clara Mantaux and freshmen pair Jackie Wagner and Sendar. The team took a 1-0 lead going into singles.
“I think all of us played good,” said Wagner. “We got the doubles point, so we got a bit of confidence going into the singles.”
Sendar’s singles win earned SJSU its second point of the match, but the Hornets responded with its first point as SJSU’s freshman Laura Malsert lost her match 2-0.
Two more singles wins by Wagner and junior Miyo Kobayashi propelled the Spartans to a 4-1 victory, leaving the other two matches unfinished.
“I think we did a good job today. We took care of business,” Sendar said.
The Spartans head to Moraga, Calif. next week to take on the No. 45 Saint Mary’s Gaels (5-5).
“They’re better than the teams we’ve played until now,” Wagner said. “Even though we did well today, we need to have better performances. We’ll need to focus a lot and concentrate to prepare for next week.”