SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Dominican women's tennis opened its Southern California road trip with a 5-2 victory Saturday afternoon over Westmont at Abbott Tennis Courts.
 
No. 48 Gina Dudley and Audrey Rafols got the Penguins (7-2) off to a hot start taking No. 1 doubles 6-0 in their first match as a ranked pair. Sophia Ostovany and Sabina Salva answered for the Warriors (4-7) taking No. 3 doubles with Justie Spitzer and Francesca Aguirre holding on for a 6-4 win in No. 2 doubles to take the point for Westmont.
 
Astrid Craig tied up the team score quickly for Dominican as she topped Salva 6-2, 6-2 in No. 5 singles. Sofia Acuña kept the Penguin momentum rolling as she dispatched Lauren Gee 6-2, 6-3 on the third court to take the lead on the team score. No. 22 Maria Gavrilov saw her first action in No. 2 singles and did not disappoint as she won 6-4, 6-2 over Ostovany.
 
No. 18 Rafols added a 6-3, 6-3 victory on the top court over Aguirre as she gave Dominican the clinch. Kaley Houshmand and Logan Koitka went back and forth in No. 6 singles with Houshand taking the first set 7-6 (5) before Koitka won 6-2 in the second set to send it to a tiebreaker. Houshand rebounded from her second set defeat to win 10-4 in the tiebreaker to give Westmont its second point.  Deepalakshmi Vanaraja was locked in a tight battle as well in No. 4 singles with Johanna Winkler as every game was a closely contested. Vanaraja however got the late break in both sets to pull away for a 7-5, 7-5 victory for the Penguins.
 
The Penguins will remain in Santa Barbara as they take on Hawai'i Pacific in a neutral site matchup at Abbott Tennis Courts on Sunday at Noon PDT.