Story by William Dudley; Video by Taylor Harris

GROSSMONT COLLEGE—The women’s tennis and softball teams both scored lopsided wins at home Thursday, March 3,   leaving the teams on the top of the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference standings.

Coach Megan Haber (tennis) and Rick Trestrail (softball) offered similar assessments of their teams: Fun, hard-working, but too soon in the season to tell how good they really are.

Rooted on by a loud cheering section (the Grossmont men’s tennis team had no scheduled match that day), the women’s tennis team swept Cuyamaca College, conceding a measly nine games out of 114 played. Sharon Reibstein, Jazmin Ortiz, Alexis Ronney, Taryn Andrews, Margaux Lawton, and Jami Thomas all won their singles matches in straight sets, with Ortiz and Thomas scoring 6-0 6-0 wins. The doubles teams of Reibstein/Ortiz, Ronney/Lawton, and Andrews/Thomas prevailed over their opponents in single pro sets 8-0, 8-2, and 8-1 respectively.

The match left Grossmont with a 6-0 record. Haber, a member of Grossmont’s 1988 state championship squad, expressed excitement about her team’s prospects, but noted that in the world of community college tennis, “you don’t know what other teams have” until you play them.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards away, the Grossmont softball team was taking care of San Bernardino College 12-2 in five innings, improving its record to 11-3 (3-0 conference). In addition to being tied for first with San Diego City College in conference, the Griffins are ranked sixth in the state.

First-year pitcher Hanna Rappaport allowed four hits over the five innings for the win, which was propelled by a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning. Shortstop Angela Lovelady, one of three sophomores on the team, went 3-4. Clarissa Norris, playing left field instead of third base, went 2-2 with a double and a home run.

“The effort has been excellent” said coach Trestrail in assessing his team for both the game and the season. The athletes “need more consistency against the better teams.”

The women’s softball team will put its conference lead on the line today’s game against the co-leader City College. The game will be at San Diego City College at 3:00 p.m.

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Dudley is editor of the GC Summit.  He can be reached at [email protected] Harris is taking an independent studies course in Media Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected]