The Glendale College women’s tennis team played host to Rio Hondo College on Feb. 25 and convincingly posted a 5-4 victory. Three wins in singles and two in doubles was the difference for the Lady Vaqs.

The previous match against Rio Hondo on Feb. 9 was cancelled due to rain, making this the first time the two colleges have played each other this year. The win gave Glendale an overall record of 3-4 with a conference record of 1-2.

The match began with Glendale splitting the six singles matches, including a dominant 6-1, 6-0 performance by Lady Vaquero Sarah Aguilar (No. 1 ranked in singles). Gabby Gottlieb of Rio Hondo was on the losing side of the singles match against Aguilar.

“I just couldn’t handle some of her hits,” Gottlieb said. “Her serves and backhands are very strong.”

Glendale’s Mineli Ebrahimi (No. 3) posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Anahit Dedeian while fellow Vaquero Alexandra Tzvetanova (No. 4) dropped Cindy Morales 6-4, 6-3.
Vaquero Brianna Hayes (No. 2) fell to Rio Hondo’s Maggie Lei 6-4, 2-6 and 6-1. Vaquero Sindi Concebida (No. 5) lost to Andrea Rodriguez 6-1, 6-3. Glendale’s Mayra Alvarez-Ramos (No. 6), dealing with a hamstring injury, lost to Esther Tapia 6-3, 4-6 and 6-2.

The Vaqueros’ teamwork was evident in winning the first two doubles matches. Aguilar and Ebrahimi won 8-1, while Tzvetanova and Hayes posted an 8-5 win. The final doubles point was not decided until Sindi Concebida and Alvarez-Ramos won over Lei and Tapia due to injury default. This gave Glendale the edge in a 5-4 score overall for the afternoon.

Head coach Bob Donaghy said that despite the team battling injuries like Alvarez-Ramos’ hamstring, they continue to train hard with a variety of workouts.

“We frequent the fitness center to do rehabilitation for our injuries,” Donaghy said.

The Vaqueros continue Western Conference play with matches against Ventura on Friday and Santa Barbara on Tuesday. Both matches start at 2 p.m.