Long Beach State continued its Big West dominance on Thursday afternoon with a 6-1 win over UC Santa Barbara, improving their conference record to 6-0.
Hannah Grady and Deborah Armstong lived up to their top billing against the Gauchos, winning in both Doubles and Singles to lead The Beach to their ninth win of the year.
“I’m extremely happy with how we played today,” said coach Jenny Hilt-Costello. “And to get to 6-0… Our No. 1 doubles was in a tough position, and that was a huge point.”
In the No. 3 Doubles, Anais Dallara and Rachel Manasse lost of the first time this year, 8-5, and that put the pressure on Grady/Armstrong.
Ranked No. 25 in the nation, the 49ers over came the adversity and started the day with a win in doubles. Armstong and Lisa Sutton picked up a quick 8-4 win, and Grady and Jessica Weeks defeated Damion/Lozano 8-5 to seal the point.
In singles, Long Beach State won at 1-4 Singles easily, as Grady, Armstrong, Manasse and Dallara quickly dispatched their Gaucho opponents in two sets. In the Beach wins, UCSB only amassed only five points total in each final set.
Julie Luzar closed out the match with a win over Asagi Onaga 6-3, 6-2.
“Especially in the Big West, we have a target on our back,” said Hilt-Costello. “The girls know that… but we don’t focus on the rankings. We don’t talk about it. We just need to play our game.”
The Beach game returns to the courts tomorrow, hosting Nevada at the Rhodes Tennis Center at 2pm.
“I like back-to-back days,” said Hilt-Costello. “The adrenaline is up… I mean, we have to play three straight days in April (Big West Tournament) so this is a good warm-up for that.”
Doubles
Grady/Weeks, LBSU def. Damion/Lozano, UCSB, 8-5
Armstong/Sutton, LBSU def. Murphy/Novak, UCSB, 8-4
Ojeda/Onaga, UCSB def. Dallara/Manasse, LBSU, 8-5
Singles
Hannah Grady, LBSU def. Michelle Murphy, UCSB, 6-3, 6-0
Deborah Armstrong, LBSU def. Jill Damion, UCSB, 6-3, 6-1
Rachel Manasse, LBSU def. Sofia Novak, UCSB, 6-3, 6-1
Anais Dallara, LBSU def. Natalia Lozano, UCSB 6-2, 6-1
Julie Luzar, LBSU, def. Asagi Onagi, UCSB, 6-3, 6-2
Bryanna Ojeda, UCSB def. Lisa Sutton, LBSU 6-4, 6-2
Report By LBSU