No. 13 Bulldog Women’s Tennis Cruises to Victory over Occidental College

Julia Pollak was one of three Bulldog players to post shut-outs against Occidental (photo credit: Ellis Hazard).
Julia Pollak was one of three Bulldog players to post shut-outs against Occidental (photo credit: Ellis Hazard).

The No.13 University of Redlands women's tennis team welcomed the Tigers of Occidental College to Verdieck Courts for a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) match on Saturday.  The Bulldogs took care of business in impressive fashion, dominating the visitors in a 9-0 sweep while shutting them out in 10 sets.

Redlands jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with wins in all of the doubles matches.  Junior Julia Pollak (Holland, PA) and sophomore Natalie Etchegaray (Placentia, CA) blanked their opponents at No. 2, before senior Jessica Ly (Torrance, CA) and junior Ceara Sumida (Hilo, HI) posted the same result at the top slot.  The sophomore tandem of Lauren Villanueva (El Segundo, CA) and Gabriela Vasquez (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) completed the overwhelming sweep with an 8-1 triumph at No. 3.

In singles, the Maroon and Gray continued to cruise, earning 6-0 victories in eight of the 10 sets played.  Sumida and Pollak fired off shut-out performances at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively, to officially seal the match win for the Bulldogs. 

Solid showings continued for Redlands, as Villanueva, senior Paige Press (La Jolla, CA), Etchegaray, and Ly all prevailed in straight sets.

Redlands (7-6, 2-1 SCIAC) looks forward to taking on the No. 2-ranked team in the country from Williams College (MA) on Friday, March 29, at 3 p.m. on Verdieck Courts.