WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 15, 2024) – Led by junior
Manasvi Vardham (Bengaluru, Karnataka, India / Delhi Public School, Whitefield), the Whittier College women's tennis team secured its second victory of the season, this time over Illinois' Principia College on Friday morning.
The victory is the Poets' first since interim Head Coach Jackson Boxall took over the program last month, and much like their most recent win over Lewis & Clark College, the Poets got the job done primarily due to excellent doubles play. Vardham and doubles partner
Monze Meraz-Lerma (Hacienda Heights, Calif. Glen A. Wilson) secured the 3-0 sweep heading into singles play in a set-deciding tiebreaker, winning it 7-2 to stave off a late run from the visitors. Top doubles team
Keeley Arendt (Canyon Lake, Calif. / Riverside City College) and
Malvika Suryavanshi (Bangalore, India / Sophia) set the tone with a more dominant win at first doubles while second doubles team
Chanel Zeraatkar and
Maci Davis (Atlanta, Ga. / Brookwood) also picked up a win at second doubles, 8-6.
With three points in hand, the Poets had plenty of confidence heading into the singles portion of the day. They needed just two points out of the remaining six, after all, to clinch their second victory of the season. However, it would not come easy, and it would require Vardham and Davis to grind out wins over tough foes with long points. However, both players would win in straight sets to get the Purple & Gold over the finish line. Vardham won her match, 6-1, 6-4, while Davis closed out her opponent, 6-2, 7-5. Former SCIAC Athlete of the Week Zeraatkar pushed her opponent in the first set, 5-7, but the onus would ultimately be on Vardham and Davis to get the job done.
The win pushes Vardham's singles record on the year to a team-best five wins, as she has maintained a level of consistency for the Poets out of the fifth singles slot all season long.
Boxall and the Poets will look to see if they can keep their good run of form when they host the University of California, Santa Cruz on Mar. 25 after a much-deserved break from competition.
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