THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - For the second time in as many days the Cal Lutheran women's tennis team suited up in extremely hot conditions to compete. Today at the Poulson Tennis Center, the Regals used a 2-1 doubles showing to get a head start on a 5-4 victory over NAIA Concordia-Irvine in non-league action.

The No. 2 CLU duo of Annette Sousa and Emily Werman cruised to an 8-2 victory over Caitlyn Uzzi and Layla Accorsi for the first team point of the day. After opening a 3-0 advantage after the first series of games, the teams split the next two battles for a 5-2 lead in favor of the Regals. The Violet and Gold went on to take the next three points to close out the match.

Concordia's No. 1 pair of Ellie Johnson and Ivana Vlakic equalized the team tally with an 8-1 win.

An exciting No. 3 doubles match went in favor of the Regals as Sarah Baker and Rebecca Gold chipped away at early 3-4 and 5-4 deficits. One swing at a time, the duo rallied and went up 6-5 with Gold serving. Concordia stormed back to regain the lead at 7-5, but Cal Lutheran tied things up at 7-7 and eventually led 8-7 before putting the match in the books at 9-7.

Once singles got started, the Eagles added a second point at No. 1. Baker put up the first individual crooked number by defeating Uzzi 6-1, 6-3 and Shelby Kubota followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Katherine Jensen on court number five.

Both Sousa and Gold were forced into third set tiebreakers and each played full sets with Sousa clinching the match with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 win while Gold was the final player duking it out. She came out on the short end of a 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 intense match.

At roughly the same time that Sousa clinched the match, Werman dropped a close and very competitive tiebreaker on court No. 3, falling 6-4, 7-6 (13-11).

Overall, the Regals continue to make strides and despite the extreme temperatures the level of competition against a scholarship school was high, which will help the Violet and Gold moving forward.

Cal Lutheran (5-4) returns to Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play on Friday, March 20 when the Regals travel to Chapman for a 2:00 p.m. first serve.

Results: CLU 5 CUI 4
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