Bates senior Ashley Brunk played outstanding tennis during the Bobcats' spring season-opening trip to California last week.
The No. 28 nationally ranked Bobcats played three matches on the West Coast, beginning with a 7-2 loss at UC Santa Cruz on Monday. Brunk (Phoenix, Ariz.) was responsible for one of Bates' two points, winning in a tiebreaker at fourth singles against her opponent from the host Banana Slugs.
Two days later, facing Occidental College in Glendale, Calif., Brunk and her partner at No. 1 doubles, sophomore Elena Mandzhukova (Lisbon, Portugal), scored a 9-7 win over the Tigers' Ama Oparison and Keilani Ericksen, and Brunk proceeded to post a decisive 6-2, 6-0 victory at fourth singles over Catherine Anderson, as Bates won an 8-1 decision.
Bates wrapped up the week with a 9-0 loss at No. 8 nationally ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Brunk fared admirably against the host Athenas, falling 6-2, 7-5 at No.4 singles to Caroline Ward in the day's most competitive match, and also helping to earn Bates' lone point among all three doubles match, an 8-1 setback at No. 1 with Mandzhukova.
