Women’s Tennis: March 28 Scoreboard
Southland Conference
Nicholls 6, UIW 1
Stephen F. Austin 4, Northwestern State 1
Lamar 4, Central Arkansas 3
Nicholls 6, UIW 1
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – With over half of the conference schedule in the books, the Nicholls State University women’s tennis team has yet to take a loss as the Colonels continued their stellar play in Southland competition with a 6-1 win over Incarnate Word on Saturday at the Mabry Tennis Center.
The Colonels (13-3, 6-0 SLC) will look to stay unbeaten in conference play with a Sunday matchup at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 12 p.m. The Islanders have won the last six meetings over the Colonels, dating back to 2009.
Nicholls started off the day by winning the doubles point for the sixth time in conference in as many matches. Kateryna Nakonechna and Isla Brock took the No. 3 court by shutting out their opponent for the second straight match. On the No. 2 court, Marie Aubert and Milou Pietersz paired up to win, 8-4, over Metea Zemunik/Malisa Vatanadilok.
In singles competition, four of the Colonels’ five wins came in straight sets, led by Aubert’s 6-3, 6-2 win on the No. 2 court over Matea Zemunik. Pietersz took her match at No. 3, 6-3, 6-4, Brock won 6-3, 6-1 at No. 5 and Nakonechna claimed a win at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-3 win.
In the three-set matches, Barnett dropped the second set on the No. 1 court versus Rachel Sadiq, but went on to win 6-1, 3-6, 6-0. Katia Jordan won the first set against Vatanadilok at No. 4; however, UIW (2-15, 0-5 SLC) prevented the shutout as Jordan fell 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
-
Return to Top -
Stephen F. Austin 4, Northwestern State 1
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin made the points when it needed to as the Ladyjacks remained one of only two unbeatens in Southland Conference play with a 4-1 decision over border rival Northwestern State at the Schlief Tennis Complex. SFA improves to 10-4 on the heels of its fifth-straight win and improved to 4-0 in SLC play, joining Nicholls as the only two unbeatens in the conference.
"Northwestern State is an incredibly well coached team and fought us at every position," said head coach Roberto Aspillaga. "I am incredibly proud of the girls for fighting together and overcoming all the challenges that have been thrown at them both today and throughout the season."
Facing the reigning SLC champions, the Ladyjacks fell behind early, dropping the No. 1 doubles point 8-2. But SFA rebounded, winning the No. 3 position 8-2 before the No. 2 slot of Julia Lorca and Denise Maxl outlasted their Demon counterparts to earn the 9-7 victory and secure the early point for the Ladyjacks.
"Taking away the doubles point from Northwestern State, who is arguably the strongest doubles team in the conference, was essential to the win today," Aspillaga said. "This team continues to get better and tougher with each match."
In the singles competition, all but two matches went to a deciding third set as No. 2 Denise Maxl fell 5-7, 1-6 to NSU, but that was quickly remedied by a 6-3,7-5 victory by Dhanielly Quevedo in the No. 3 slot. No. 6 Julia Lorca outlasted her opponent for a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory, followed closely behind by a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 win by Viviene Kulicke in the No. 4 spot to clinch the match for SFA. Malena Gordo was leading in the No. 1 spot while Valeria Terentyeva was tied 2-2 in the third when the match was called.
SFA now puts its five-match winning streak on the line Sunday when the Ladyjacks head to Louisiana Tech for a 2 p.m. match against the Lady Techsters in Ruston, La. It begins a three-match Louisiana road trip for the Ladyjacks who will then visit Southeastern Louisiana on April 3, followed by a match against New Orleans on April 4.
-
Return to Top -
Lamar 4, Central Arkansas 3
CONWAY, Ark. – It all came down to court six, to a freshman and to the third set. Stephanie Marchena and Bianca Strukelj battled the entire match and exchanged blows back-and-fourth, but Lamar's freshman Marchena took the 6-6 tiebreak and gave the women's tennis team a 4-3 win over Central Arkansas on Saturday to claim its first Southland Conference victory and win its fourth straight match.
UCA junior Strukelj took the first 6-4, and then jumped up 4-1 in the second set over Marchena. Marchena answered and tied it at 4-4, then 5-4 and took the second set 6-4 to tie the match at 1-1.
"She started shaky because she knew the result fell on her. We got her focused and calm, and she was thinking more clearly," said head coach David Wong. "She felt the pressure. By her calming down and focusing in on the ball, she was able to overcome all of that."
In almost the same fashion, Marchena jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Strukelj before it was tied at 2-2. Marchena pulled away to make it 5-2, but Strukelj would not go away and answered to take a 6-5 lead. Marchena tied the match at 6-6 and then took the tiebreak and won the match, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
"That had the feel of a professional match. They were hitting, they were hitting," said Wong a sound relief in his voice. "It was just very intense, every point was very intense. She endured that. She was serving 5-6 and was still able to control herself.
"Being a freshman, it was a lot of pressure on her. She played maturely even under the pressure," he said.
Her win upped her singles win streak to five and improved her record to 7-3 on the year.
The Lady Cardinals improved to 7-8 overall and 1-4 in Southland Conference action. Central Arkansas fell to 7-4 on the season and 2-4 in league play.
Before Marchena's match, LU took the doubles point to jump up 1-0. After singles No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 were finished, Central Arkansas was clinging to a 3-2 lead. Hanna Elfving tied the match from court five in three sets with a win over Cassidy Crawford, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Elfving's win improved her record in singles action to 7-5, and 5-4 on court five.
Anna Spengler downed Kelsey Williams on No. 2 and had to battle back to do it. She fell in a 7-6 heartbreaker in set one before she promptly took care of Williams, 6-3, 6-1 to close out the match. She improved to 6-8 for the season.
"I am very proud of my team. They played for each other, and then when they were done they would cheer for each other," said Wong. "It went back-and-forth all the way to the end. They played together.
"We're known by how we fight," said Wong. "And today we fought like Cardinals."
The Lady Cardinals wrapped up the doubles points from courts one and three. Carolina Maso and Katya Lapayeva defeated Nataly Yoo and Crawford 8-5 on No. 1. They improved their team record to 4-4 this season, all from the first line.
Court three saw Marchena and Elfving take down Kristina Horsikyan and Strukelj 8-5. Their team record moved up to 4-3, all from the third line.
Yoo took court one of singles on a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-2 win over Katya Lapayeva. Lines three and four were both finished in tight battles, despite playing only two sets. Horsikyan downed Andrea Ivanovic 6-1 in the first set, but Ivanovic pushed back in the second. She fell just short and lost the match 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Court four was much the same after Allison Murphy beat Carolina Maso 6-3 in the first set, but had to squeak by to win the second 7-5.
The Lady Cards ended their four-match road swing with the win over UCA, and were a perfect 4-0 in that span. They return home for a two matches, first is Incarnate Word at 2 o'clock on Friday and second against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1:00 on Sunday.
-
Return to Top -