The Santa Rosa Junior College tennis team split their matches Friday at Diablo Valley College, as the women’s team kept on rolling through their opponents with ease.  

The men’s team was short-handed and missing their No. 1 player, second-year Trevor Pinder. They suffered a tough 6-1 loss, but one bright spot was second-year Shannon Connell. Connell moved up from his usual No. 2 slot to take on Diablo Valley’s best singles player and came away with a victory after winning his second set 6-1.

The women’s team kept its early success going and didn’t lose a single match all day. Second-year Thu Dang and first-year Sandy Yang got the Bear Cubs off to a hot start in doubles with an 8-2 win.

The Bear Cubs won all three of their singles matches, including a heated matchup between second-year Elissa Papale and her Diablo Valley counterpart. Papale won via tiebreaker after a split in the first two sets.

Head coach Connor Van Alstyne was impressed by Papale’s gritty performance. “She battled fierce long rallies and kept pressure at the net to take the final match,” Van Alstyne said.

The Bear Cub women are now 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in league play.

Up next:

SRJC hosts Shasta College at 1 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Izzy Derkos Courts.