REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Women's Tennis team raised their performance bar in the extreme heat Friday afternoon nearly pulling off an upset over No. 14 Amherst College falling 5-2 inside the Verdieck Tennis Center.
The Mammoths ended up taking the doubles point quickly. On court three,
Maisy Reynoso (El Paso, TX) and
Eve Laurent (Portland, OR) fell 6-0 and next to them, on court two,
Sophia Truong (Arleta, CA) and
Vrishitha Kumar (Mumbai, India) fell 6-1. However, the No.1 duo of
Maegan Deng (Torrance, CA) and
Lindsey Whelan (Mercer Island, WA) held their ground staying with their opponents, before falling 6-4.
Amherst extended their lead in singles winning the next two points putting them up 3-0—one point away from a clinch. On court six, Laurent fell in straight sets 6-1, 6-0. Next to her, at No. 5 Truong almost broke back in her second set with a glimpse of a third but couldn't hold the lead, falling 6-3, 7-5.
Whelan on the second court was grinding out long points during her match. The work paid off as she put the Bulldogs on the scoreboard with a solid 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The last three matches on all split sets and had to play out full thirds since neither team had clinched. This was a moment that the Bulldogs nearly capitalized on. Deng at No.1 was the match to watch taking on a Top-20 player. After losing the first set 7-5, she bounced back to take the next two sets winning 6-3, 6-3. This advanced the Bulldogs to within one at 3-2.
Reynoso's match on court three also looked promising for the Maroon and Grey as she won the first set 6-3, before getting edged 7-5 in the second. She found herself up in the third set, but failed to hold on falling 6-3, giving the Mammoth's the clinch. Similarly, Kumar on court four went through a similar pattern. She won the first set in a grinding tiebreaker, 7-6, fell in a close second set 7-5, and could not seal the deal in the third, falling 6-1.
Redlands returns to the court, Monday March 23 when they host a double header against Whitworth University (12:00pm) and No. 8 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4:00pm).
