Men’s and Women’s tennis slaughtered Folsom Lake on Friday, March 28, with a final score of 7-2 for the men and 6-3 for the women—a welcome victory for the struggling gentleman and just another stroll for the ladies.

Going into the match 3-7 (1-6 in conference), the gentleman won each of their three doubles matches 8-0, 8-0, 8-6. Notable performances came from No. 1 and No. 2 seeds Roy Eldred and Vaughn Asuncion as they capitalized on Folsom Lake’s errors with consistency and well timed aggression.

“They were just too good looking,” said Folsom Lake No. 1 Max Bass.

Handsome devils or not, it was their net play and on-court telepathy that proved most debonaire.

“Our communication is good and we don’t even have to speak,” Asuncion said. “And we were more aggressive at the net and kept them on the defensive side.”

Men’s singles went just as smoothly. The guys took four of their six singles matches. Eldred, more a tactician than a power house, fended off Bass’ booming serve and welcomed his opponent’s profuse unforced errors to win the match 6-4, 6-2.

“Tennis is like chess,” Eldred said. “There are a million different shots to hit at any given time; you just have to choose.”

Going into this match 6-4 (4-3 conference), the women’s team trampled Folsom Lake in doubles, winning two out of three of their doubles matches, 8-0, 8-5, 4-8. Susanne Lin (1), and Chelsea Corby (2), employed power and pristine form to overwhelm the Folsom ladies’ gratuitous pushing strategies.

“The balls had nothing on them,” Corby said. “She kept giving me balls in the air for me to slam.”

Singles action was no less brilliant as Susanne Lin (No. 1) overtook Folsom Lake (No. 1).

Emma Berry 6-1, 6-1, short balls were rejected by Susanne Lin’s backhand.

“It’s really hard to hit a hard ball off of slow pace,” Lin said, referring to early backhand errors. “But I got more in the zone, bent my knees better, and set up faster.”

Overall, the Viking’s win against Folsom Lake was a major confidence boost, especially as the Big 8 Conference game in Santa Rosa approaches on April 3.

“Today all of us were in the zone,” said Seila Besirovic (3) after her 6-0, 6-1 win over Folsom’s Jennifer Tu. “But just because you win this week doesn’t mean you’re going to win next week.”

Although head coach Jackie Ponciano-Babb would love to see the team go the distance, her main objective is to foster good spirits—no matter the outcome.

“We try to have a competitive atmosphere, but at the end of the day it’s about having fun,” coach Ponciano-Babb said. “This year’s team is really easy to love.”

Scores:

Women’s Doubles:

Suzanne Lin and Chelsea Corby (DVC)def. Emma Berry and Stefani Valtonan (FLC) – 8-0.

Seila Besirovic and Deanne Dinio (DVC) def. Jennifer Tu and Amanda Smead (FLC) – 8-5

Oliga Grabicuc and Rebecca Billingsley (FLC) def. Gina Awarez and Adrianne Miller (DVC) –

8-4

Men’s Doubles:

Eldred and Asuncion (DVC) def. Bass and Bagras (FLC) – 8-0

Nunomi and Hotama (DVC) def. Mackel and Lee (FLC) – 8-0

Mai and Chuidwn [this could be misspelled] (DVC) def. Payne and Daly (FLC) – 8-6.

Women’s Singles:

Lin (DVC) def. Berry – 6-1, 6-1

Corby (DVC) def. Valtanan – 6-1, 6-1

Besirovic (DVC) def. Tu 6-0, 6-1

Dinio (DVC) def. Smead 6-2, 6-4

Grabicuc def. Alvarez (DVC) 6-3, 7-5

Billingsley def. Miller (DVC) 6-4, 6-0

Men’s Singles:

Eldred (DVC) def. Bass 6-4, 6-2

Asuncion (DVC) def. Bagnas 6-0, 6-1

Nunomi (DVC) def. Machel 6-0, 6-0

Hotama def. (DVC) def. Lee 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Payne def. Galpin (DVC) 6-3, 6-0

Torrentes def. Simpson (DVC) 6-2, 2-6, (1-10)