Big wins for women's tennis at WSC Championships

The Santa Monica College women's tennis team had a strong showing on Friday, April 12, at the Western State Conference Championships. The duo of Kaori Tsuda and Juliana Nelkin won the doubles championship against the Santa Barbara City College team of Bruna Malgalhes and Nadya Bravo 6-2 and 6-3.

Tsuda and Nelkin had lost a match to Malgalhes and Bravo during the regular season and felt like they were ready the second time around.

"We played smarter tennis this time," said Tsuda. "We played to the weaker player and when Bruna [Malgalhes] tried to cover her partner, we hit to the open space."

The WSC Championships serve as a qualifying tournament for the upcoming California Community College Athletic Associations State Tournament.

Each participating college is allowed to send their top ten qualifying players to compete in the state championships.

For the singles competition, the Corsairs will send Tsuda, Nelkin, Carmel Peterson, Victoria Mamatova, and Jessica Goldbeck.

In the doubles competition, SMC will send the team of Nelkin and Tsuda, Peterson and Mamatova, and Goldbeck and Ana Beatriz Barcelos de Souza. Elin Hedberg and Karla Hernandez narrowly lost their doubles match.

The State Championships will be held at Ojai, on April 24-28.