Women's Tennis | 2/14/2015 12:13:00 AM
AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's Women's Tennis team improved its record to 2-1 as they knocked off Trinity by a score of 7-1 Friday afternoon.
Both teams went back-and-forth in the doubles portion of the match and all three matches featured exciting finishes. The first match to end was the No. 2 portion which featured
IVANA ZECEVIC and
FRANCESCA CHAHER defeating Blaire Porter and Cheyenne Duncan by a score of 8-6. The No. 3 doubles team of
RAFAELA HAEGELE and
MARISSA WILLIAMS started off rather slowly as they trailed the team of Gabrielle Roe and Caroline White 4-2 early. However, Haegele and Williams rallied back to the match to a tie break before winning 9-8 (7-4). Lastly at No. 1,
BROOKE HUGHES and
SASHA KHADZHYAN moved their record as doubles partners to 3-0 after numerous back and forth tilts with Marie Lutz and Liza Southwick, 8-6.
After sweeping the doubles portion of the match, St. Edward's looked to keep the pressure on the Tigers. The No. 6 singles took place while the doubles portion was played and Trinity earned its first point of the day as
SUMMER BIGGS dropped her match against Kristy Hamilton by a score of 2-6, 6-4 and 1-6.
The No. 2 and No. 3 singles were wrapped up fairly quick as Khadzhyan and Haegele made quick work of Lutz and Roe. Khadzhyan defeated Lutz 6-0, 6-2 while Haegele took down Roe by a score of 6-0, 6-3.
IVANA ZECEVIC was all over the court in her No. 4 singles match against Blaire Porter. Zecevic overwhelmed Porter for a majority of the match before eventually winning by scores of 6-3, 6-2.
The match of the day came from the No. 1 singles tilt featuring
BROOKE HUGHES and Liza Southwick. The duo wound up in a number of
deuce tiebreakers throughout the first set and it was Southwick that forced just enough errors to come out on top 7-6. Hughes and Head Coach Kendall Brooks talked things over between sets and Hughes picked up a crucial break late in the game to win 7-6. With the sunlight fading fast, the two agreed to a superset tiebreak. Hughes maintained her momentum and went on to defeat the athletic Southwick by a score of 6-7, 7-6 and 10-5.
FRANCESCA CHAHER and Carolina White were unable to complete their No. 5 match as darkness fell upon the Strohmeyer tennis courts. Chaher held a 6-4 lead prior to the coaches decided to call it quit and give St. Edward's a 7-1 victory.
Hughes was nice enough to talk with us about her comeback victory and her,"Sasha and I playing doubles together is always my favorite part of the day. We work really well together and we always seem." She went on to talk about her teams play and how they've grown together over the fall and spring. "I love our team! We've got some great girls that replaced some great seniors last year. I think we can win conference and push onto regionals if we continue to improve as a team."
Head Coach Kendall Brooks came away fairly impressed with the way her team's performance today. Brooks said, "We came out with a lot of energy and intensity in doubles and we needed it because the matches were so close on all three courts. To come out and win all three doubles was great for us and I think ultimately it will become a major strength for us." Brooks was cautiously optimistic about her team's outlook, "It's still early but I think we've improved each match to start the season. We've seen several different types of looks and opponents so we've had to work on different things. Moving forward I know that will help us and I feel very positive about us going forward."
