Women’s tennis out early at Cal Nike Invitational

This weekend, the two players representing the women’s tennis team at the Cal Nike Invitational, seniors Cristala Andrews and Lyndsay Kinstler, had little luck in finding an early rhythm.

Playing in flight A, the Women of Troy did not make it past the first few rounds of competition.

In singles play, Andrews defeated Santa Clara University’s Kelly Lamble (1-6, 6-1, 6-1) and moved from the round of 32 to the round of 16. There, however, Natallia Pintusava, a top-ranked freshman from Minnesota, ended Andrews’ movement up in the competition.

Also in singles play, Kinstler was defeated by Anais Dallara, a highly ranked player from Long Beach State, in the round of 32. Upon playing BYU’s Megan Price in the consolation round, Kinstler faced a similar loss.

As a doubles pair, the two teammates played against a pair from St. Mary’s College in the round of 32 and lost 8-2. They fared no better in the consolation round where they were handed a loss from the University of the Pacific’s Jenifer Widjaja and Julia Hansen.

The two USC players found hope in the round robin singles set. They both beat their first competitors and moved up in the round-robin rankings.

Next weekend USC will start competing in the pre-qualifying rounds of the ITA/ Riviera All-American Championships. This is one of the more difficult tournaments of the season, and the Women of Troy’s performance in it is crucial more toward their individual rankings than the team’s ranking as a whole.