The Palomar women’s tennis team seemed unbeatable, winning both doubles matches and all five singles matches against Mesa.

The Comets served up tough competition to the Lady Olympians March 2 at Mesa College and put the home team abilities to the test.

The doubles matches consisted of one set with eight games. The Comets took the lead early at 4-0.

Mesa’s powerful ground strokes and serves couldn’t overcome the skilled placement of the ball by their opponents.

The Comets’ strategy immediately put the Olympians on the defensive. The home team was caught on their heels and failed to cover ground quick enough.

Mesa constantly dashed toward the net and then rushed backward to retrieve their opponent’s deep shots. Palomar won both doubles matches eight games to one.

Mesa’s Jess Javelet’s speed gave her a slight advantage over Palomar, but she also recognized her weaknesses.

“I’m fast on the court. I used to play field hockey on the National team,” said Javelet. “But I need to work on my placement and unforced errors.”

Lady Olympian Jehan Brunton felt that the team would be more confident playing singles.

“Our team is just more prepared for singles matches,” said Brunton.

Mesa’s top ranked player Izzy Richardson has a powerful serve that rocked the singles court, keeping her in the match in a very close second set.

As a left-handed player, her forehand has the advantage of a wicked spin that frequently challenged her competitor.

Richardson admitted that even though her serve was the strongest part of her game, she could still improve it by giving it some of that left-handed spin.

“I need to work on getting more spin and height on my serve,” said Richardson. “My shots at the net and backhand could use some work too.”

Jess Javelet reached deuce on almost every game in her second set.

Her quick speed on the singles court allowed her to chase down every well-placed shot her opponent fired back.

This is even more impressive considering Javelet’s short history playing the game.

“I’ve been playing tennis for just three weeks,” said Javelet.

This was Mesa’s third organized match of the semester. Even though they lost this one, head coach Patty Peisner remains confident about placing in conference.

“We stand 2-1, and this year I know we can place high in conference,” said Peisner. “Our goal is to finish third.”

Though faced with defeat, the Mesa women’s tennis team did not give up.

Their next home game will be at 2 p.m. on March 9 against Imperial Valley College.

“There’s a good mix of experienced players and beginners here. We have good strokes, but we need to improve our footwork,” said Peisner.