Lions swat away Bulldogs

BY KYLE GLASER

   STAFF WRITER [email protected] 
   RIVERSIDE — The Riverside Arlington girls tennis team had no trouble dispatching Hemet when the teams met in a nonleague match earlier this season.

   With a lot more on the line in the teams’ second meeting on Tuesday, history repeated itself.

   Singles players Jen Andra and Jasmine Salgado each posted dominant sweeps and the Lions ended the Bulldogs’ season with a 16-2 victory in the wild-card round of the CIF-Southern Section Division 5 playoffs.

   “We did what we kind of expected to with our singles,” Arlington coach Eric Biddle said. “Andra and Salgado have carried us all season 
, our other girls expect them to win.”

   The Lions (17-2), who were ranked No. 3 in the final regular season poll, will travel to Elsinore for a first round match today.

   Arlington put the Bulldogs (5-10) away early, winning the first round of play 6-0 and grabbing a 10-0 lead midway through the second round to secure the victory.

   Andra and Salgado, who 
both went 49-0 in the regular season, worked quickly in their sweeps to set the tone. Salgado won all of her three sets 6-0 and Andra won 6-0, 6-0, 6-2.

   “Beating them once already gave us some confidence today,” Salgado said. “But we always think of not going in too confident because you never know what could happen.”

   The doubles teams of Ashley Bauman-Ellia Rosado and Alyssa Turner-China Woods also swept their sets for Arlington, which has reached the semifinals the last seven seasons.

   “It was nice for our No. 1 doubles today to get a sweep,” Biddle said. “It’s good confidence for going into Elsinore.”

   Hemet was in danger of being shut out before winning two sets in the third round.

   Though the final score of Tuesday’s match was the same as when they played earlier in the year, Bulldogs coach Barbara White said there was a difference.

   “My girls did a lot better than last time,” she said. “I feel like our matches were longer. No matter what the score says, they did a lot better.”
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