Seniors McCall Jones and Carling Seguso stepped into the courts of the Los Angeles Tennis Center Friday afternoon to play Eastern Kentucky wearing blue and gold.
A loss would have meant it was their last time donning the colors.
But fortunately for the seniors, the team needed only two hours to defeat Easter Kentucky 4-0 in the opening round match of the NCAA and move on to the second round match to face Long Beach for a ticket to the sweet 16.
“It is good to finish fast because it gives us more time to rest, but as long as we are playing well and competing really hard I think it will end in our favor,” freshman Skylar Morton said.
Morton and the Bruins began doubles action obliterating Eastern Kentucky 8-0, 8-0 in courts two and three.
Taking the lead up 1-0, the Bruins would only need three more singles wins to take the match and move on to the second round.
All three points came swiftly from the back courts where Morton was the first one to finish her match 6-1, 6-1.
“We were hitting the ball pretty well”¦I just competed very well and I stayed calm the whole time because I saw that my teammates were doing that and that made me more confident in my own match,” Morton said.
Fellow freshman Chanelle Van Nguyen followed Morton’s win by dispatching Saioa Oscoz 6-0, 6-2 in court five.
While she pulled out the Bruin’s victory, Van Nguyen wasn’t thrilled with her performance.
“I definitely wasn’t playing my best, but it was good enough for me to get through,” she said.
The clinching point came from the racquet of Seguso 6-2, 6-2 over Eastern Kentucky’s Marcela Jimenez.
Although she is playing in her final home matches, Seguso is not thinking about it because her focus is on Georgia.
“It’s so weird because on Thursday everyone was like “˜oh my gosh we had our last fitness, we had our last practice’ and I haven’t really thought about it yet because I’ve been so focused on Georgia,” Seguso said.
“In Georgia I’m definitely going to be emotional: cry after our last match, but coming back it’s going to be weird, coming to the courts knowing that I am not going to be playing in them again.”
Seguso and Jones will have another opportunity to play at home against Long Beach, but regardless of the result, their time representing the blue and gold is coming to an end.