Report by LBSU

No. 40 Long Beach State closed out the regular season in top form Saturday, winning all nine matches on the day to defeat LMU. The 49ers won all three matches to take the doubles point before winning all six singles matches in straight sets.

The revamped doubles lineup worked perfectly on Saturday, as Deborah Armstrong and Anais Dallara, playing at No. 1 doubles for the second match in a row defeated Nixon/Morgan 8-5, while Jaklin Alawi and Rachel Manasse won 8-6 over Heckel/Pironkova at No. 2 doubles after the pairs swapped spots in the lineup for the Pepperdine match. A win at No. 3 doubles from Sarah Cantlay and Julie Luzar made it a clean sweep for the 49ers in doubles.

The dominance from the 49ers continued in singles, as Alawi and Dallara won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles by identical 6-2, 6-1 scores, while Armstrong and Manasse also didn’t allow their opponents past three games as Armstrong defeated Shauna Morgan 6-1, 6-3, while Manasse dispatched Elisaveta Pironkova 6-3, 6-1.

Anna Jeczmionka, in her second match back after returning from injury had the closest match of the day, but prevailed in a first-set tiebreaker before winning 7-6, 6-1, and Sarah Cantlay rounded out the match with a  7-5, 6-0 win over Audrey Bulkley at No. 6 singles.

Long Beach State will have a full week of practice to prepare for the Big West Tournament, held April 30 through May 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The 49ers will be the top seed and favorite to win for the seventh straight season and clinch the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Doubles

Armstrong/Dallara, LBSU def. Nixon/Morgan, LMU 8-5

Alawi/Manasse, LBSU def. Heckel/Pironkova, LMU 8-6

Cantlay/Luzar, LBSU def. Bulkley/Valenzuela, LMU 8-4

Singles

Jaklin Alawi, LBSU def. Jasmin Heckel, LMU 6-2, 6-1

Anais Dallara, LBSU def. Melissa Valenzuela, LMU 6-2, 6-1

Deborah Armstrong, LBSU def. Shauna Morgan, LMU 6-1, 6-3

Rachel Manasse, LBSU def. Elisaveta Pironkova, LMU 6-3, 6-1

Anna Jeczmionka, LBSU def. Bliss Nixon, LMU 7-6 (4), 6-1

Sarah Cantlay, LBSU def. Audrey Bulkley, LMU 7-5, 6-0