The season for the Biola women’s tennis team has come to an end, as they won in the first round against the Hope International Royals before being eliminated in the semifinals by the Westmont College Warriors.
Royal flush
The team traveled to Indian Wells, Calif. on April 19 and 20 for the Golden State Athletic Conference championship tournament. Biola came in 2-0 against the Royals on the season, and the story ended the same way in this latest case, as Biola came away with the 5-1 win. In the semifinal round, the Eagles faced the No. 7 ranked Warriors, who swept Biola 5-0. Biola’s record finishes at 6-16 with only one tournament that doesn’t count for overall ranking remaining.
The GSAC tournament is structured a little differently than the normal regular season matches in that the team that gets to five match wins first is declared the winner, even if there are matches still going on or have yet to start. Biola made quick work of Hope International on day one, only allowing the Royals to take one match.
Doubles play was all Biola, as all three teams won their matches. The third team of freshmen Katie Boesl and Bailey McGeough won 8-4, the second team of sophomore Brooke Sanford and senior Kathryn Ashford dispatched their opponents 8-5, and the top team of juniors Kelsey Post and Madeline Heer bageled the Royals’ top team 8-0. That meant Biola only had to win two of the singles matches to take the victory.
Hope International took the first singles match and their only win of the day, as Biola quickly locked down the next two matches to eliminate the Royals. Heer played on the top court, quickly beating the Royals’ top player 6-0, 6-3. Post replicated Heer’s scores exactly on the fourth court, to ensure Biola moved on to the semifinal round.
Westmont road warriors
There, Westmont waited for them, a team who finished second in GSAC and is ranked No. 7 nationally. The Eagles put up a fight, but could not overcome the Warriors’ talented squad. Westmont took all three doubles matches, with the closest being on the second court, where Sanford and Ashford lost 6-8, the minimum a team can lose by.
Westmont dominated singles play, as no Eagles player took more than three games in any set. Westmont finished off Biola in the first two singles matches, with freshman Taliah Hightower losing 6-0, 6-0 on the sixth court and Heer dropping her match 6-0, 6-2 on the top court.
Biola’s GSAC season is now over, but they still have the 116th annual Ojai Valley Tournament on April 22-24 to look forward to. The tournament does not count for the overall record of the school, but is for singles and doubles teams to compete against other very high level opponents for individual championships. Play times, opponents and court locations have yet to be announced.
