Vaqueros edge Glendale, move into first in WSC

Tess Kolkman and Zionne Lee posted an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles on Tuesday, lifting visiting SBCC over Glendale 5-4 and into first place in the WSC women's tennis standings. Lee also won at No. 4 singles 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 after trailing 5-4, 40-love in the third set.

Santa Barbara notched its fourth straight victory to improve to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in conference, tied with Glendale. Glendale, which also uses the nickname Vaqueros, had its nine-match win streak snapped and fell to 9-2 overall.

"It was a long, close contest that came down to the last doubles match," said coach Lance Kronberg. "With the score tied at 2-2 in singles, Maddie Seeds and Zionne Lee both showed a lot of heart to win matches that could have gone either way. Seeds won 7-5 7-6 (3) in a pair of hour-long sets that had many long games and momentum changes.

"Lee convincingly lost the first set, then easily won the second and ran out to a 4-1 lead in the third. But four long games later, after many deuces, her opponent was serving for the match at 5-4, 40-love. I could see in her eyes she was thinking there was no chance, but she just kept fighting and fighting, and won that game. Nobody was giving up. Two long games later, Zionne took the last set 7-5.

"Both matches were the most exciting kind to watch, when both players believe they can win until the last point."

Glendale took the No. 1 and 2 doubles to even things up at 4-4, setting the stage for Kolkman/Lee's dramatic victory.

SBCC travels to San Diego Mesa for a nonconference match on Friday at 2 p.m. 

Singles
1. Marcela Massaglia, SBCC, def. Brigitta Benitez 0-6, 6-2 ret.
2. Maddie Seeds, SBCC, def. Meghedi Mooradian 7-5, 7-6 (3)
3. Tess Kolkman, SBCC, def. Elizabeth Sanchez 6-1, 6-1
4. Zionne Lee, SBCC, def. Amy Shigenaga 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
5. Meredy Gharabegi, GC, def. Gabriela McDaniel 6-2, 6-0
6. Ayaka Takeuchi, GC, def. Amanda Berke 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Benitez/Gharabegi, GC, def. Massaglia/Seeds 8-4
2. Sanchez/Shigenaga, GC, def. McDaniel/Edda Von Hodenberg 8-0
3. Kolkman/Lee, SBCC, def.  Mooradian/Takeuchi 8-5