When told of her tennis team’s recent struggles against the Western State Conference, sophomore Meldia Hacopian was quick to stop and offer a defense. “Well, it was against two top teams,” she said, speaking on the Lady Vaqs losses to Ventura and Bakersfield over the last two weeks.
But with a dominating win over Allan Hancock on Tuesday, Glendale gained their second straight win and moved a game over the .500 mark at 7-6. The win also evened their conference record at 5-5.
The Lady Vaqs swept their singles matches and lost only one doubles match for an 8-1 victory over the Bulldogs, which barely took more than two hours to complete. With the win, Glendale swept the season series over Allan Hancock, having previously beaten them 9-0 on Feb. 24.
Hacopian called the match “practice” for what’s in store in the week ahead. Glendale wraps up its regular season Thursday against Santa Monica, and next week against Cuesta.
Hacopian easily dispatched Maty Martinez in singles play, 6-0, 6-0, and teamed with Monique Palmera in doubles to defeat Joanna Toombs and Jennifer Francisco, 8-0.
The Bulldogs, who are still winless on the season, captured their only win in doubles when Sophia Apadaca and Francesca Sanchez beat Veronica Sandoval and Aline Nicoghosian, 8-6.
Despite the easy win, Vaqs head coach Terry Coblentz was quick to dismiss the idea of any team entering a match overconfident.
“Respecting your opponents goes a long way,” she said. “I wanted to keep our competitive edge in this one.”
She did, however, acknowledge the convenience of playing the Bulldogs at this point in the season. “It certainly came at a nice time.”
The Lady Vaqs had dropped four straight WSC matches before beating Santa Barbara last week, but Coblentz wouldn’t use the word “struggling” to describe her team’s state.
“I don’t think we were struggling. We played as hard as we could. The teams we were playing against were very, very good. And it just goes to illustrate the strength of the Western Conference,” said Coblentz.
Sitting in fourth place in the conference, the Lady Vaqs probably won’t make the playoffs, even if they were to win their last two games. Individual tournaments begin in mid-April, giving Glendale something else to look forward to.
