by Damien Alarcon
Sports Editor
Western New Mexico University proved to be too much to handle after it defeated the women’s tennis team, 8-1, at the University of La Verne tennis court Friday.
The Division II Mustangs won five of the six singles matches and dominated all doubles. For the Mustangs, wins in singles competition came from Melanie Martinez, Roberta Sanchez, Rosie Gomez, Rebecca Benavidez and Katherine Heck.
No. 1 Martinez defeated senior Tracy MacArthur, 6-2, 6-2, and Sanchez beat sophomore Tammie Davis, 6-0, 6-1.
“We played consistent and aggressive,” said Benavidez. “A whole lot better than we did this morning.”
WNM suffered a 7-2 loss earlier that day from Hawaii Pacific.
Senior Tiffany Yates was the lone victor for the Leopards, winning over Rochelle Davis, 6-2 and 6-4.
In doubles action, Benavidez and Davis earned a victory over seniors Tracy MacArthur and Emily Judd with a score of 8-2. In one of the more closely fought matches of the day, Yates and Davis fell short, 8-4, against Gomez and Heck. The duo of Martinez and Sanchez swept freshmen Sandy Thay and Pauline Duran, 8-0.
“We didn’t do so hot,” said MacArthur. “We made a lot of errors and let a few close ones get away.”
“This is a Division II school so I think we played well,” said ULV head coach John Lawrence.
The Leopards sink to an overall record of 1-9. They remain tied for last place with Occidental with a record of 0-5 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
Saturday’s match against visiting Lewis & Clark, set for 2 p.m., was cancelled due to rain.
The squad’s next game will be today against visiting Chapman University at 2 p.m. The game will serve as La Verne’s final home game. On April 3, the Leopards will face Mills College in Oakland and on April 10, they will travel to fight Whittier to conclude the season.
