Southern Mississippi 5, Southeastern Louisiana 2
Abilene Christian vs. Seattle, Canceled (Weather)
Central Arkansas at Oral Roberts, Canceled (Weather)
UAB at Northwestern State, Postponed (Weather)
Southern Mississippi 5, Southeastern Louisiana 2
HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana junior Renee Villarreal and freshman Lucia Bustamante both remained undefeated in singles play, but Southern Miss handed the Lions a 5-2 defeat in non-conference women’s tennis action Sunday afternoon at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
The Lions (2-1) played their first match in nearly a month after having several matches postponed by inclement weather. Southern Miss took the doubles point and won on the No. 2, 3, 5 and 6 singles courts to improve to 7-3 overall.
Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes was pleased with his team’s effort, but the teams’ over three-week hiatus since its 4-0 win over Southern on Feb. 6 was evident.
USM took the early lead by winning the doubles point. The Golden Eagles won matches at No. 1 and No. 3 to take a 1-0 advantage.
On the No. 1 singles court, Villarreal improved to 3-0 this spring. Her opponent, Carolin Drescher, retired early in the third set after splitting the first two sets with Villarreal. The Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico native ran her remarkable SLU career singles record to 42-4 in her two-plus seasons in the green and gold.
Bustamante continued her undefeated start to her collegiate career. At No. 4, she bounced back from a tough second set for a 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 victory over USM’s Claudia Castella to improve to 3-0 in dual match singles play. Unfortunately for the Lions, USM was able to take straight-set victories on the other courts to earn the 5-2 win.
SLU is scheduled to play at Jackson State on Monday at 6 p.m., weather permitting.