Fresno State women’s tennis scored its first two victories of the season over Cal Poly and Fresno City College, the latter in dominant fashion.
“We were a lot more relaxed in our second match,” Fresno State head coach Ryan Stotland said. “I think the first match we were a little tense. We hadn’t had a win yet, so it was our first win of the season.
“Once we got that win, I think we’re going to be a lot more relaxed. You could see that in our second match, we were having a good time out there.”
A crowd of dedicated fans filled the stands about half-capacity even with the slightly chilled temperatures at both 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday. The Bulldogs followed an inspired pregame chant with strong doubles play against Cal Poly.
The teams of Maiar Sherif Ahmed and Rana Sherif Ahmed as well as Anneka and Sophie Watts scored impressive first set victories, 6-1 and 6-2 respectively. The Ahmeds were especially aggressive, constantly looking to poach and hit at the feet of the opponent to gain an advantage.
The Watts twins also impressed in their performance, showing good chemistry and communication, though they said that’s not always the case.
“We’ve had our moments,” Sophie Watts said. “We played together last semester and had some good results. If we don’t argue, it goes well.”
The solid performance in both matches by the entire team is even more impressive considering the players weren’t fully healthy.
Senior Aishwarya Agrawal had her playing hand wrist wrapped for much of the matches, which she said caused difficulty with grip and pain as well. She responded to the adversity with a 6-0 doubles win against Fresno City College.
Fellow senior Anne Susdorf played in her first matches since October following a bad knee injury and picked up a two-set sweep over Fresno City, 6-0 and 6-1.
“First match back [is] always a little rocky,” Susdorf said. “But it’s easy once you play one match to get the confidence back, to get it rolling, believing in it and knowing that’s not going to happen again.”
Senior Tanya Murtagh also showed great form on serve even with a thick knee brace of her own. It shows the how these athletes are able to keep their heads in the game and push through not only injuries but a grueling two match slate in one day, a sentiment echoed by Stotland.
“It’s just mental toughness,” Stotland said. “It’s hard to come back after one match and play a second. I think we’re just going to build on this and just a little bit of confidence goes a long way. I think that’s one thing we were lacking, and now we’re there and it will propel us forward and we’re going to use it.”
Susdorf said the players were feeling that confidence at the end of the day and going forward.
“Coming off back to back wins, there’s a lot of energy and confidence,” Susdorf said.
“Going into our next matches, knowing we’re here to stay, here to compete.”