Women's Tennis | 4/2/2015 11:08:00 PM
LAWTON, Okla. – St. Edward's and Cameron faced off in a matchup between two of the top teams in the region Thursday afternoon. The Hilltoppers would battle Cameron to the brink, but the Aggies would prevail 5-4.
St. Edward's held the upper hand early, as they captured victories at the No. 1 and No. 2 matchups in doubles.
BROOKE HUGHES and Sasha Khadzyhan proved why they are one of the top doubles combinations in the region by defeating Samantha Wood and Magdalena Kovinic in 8-0 fashion. At the No. 2 spot,
IVANA ZECEVIC and
FRANCESCA CHAHER would secure the second point of the match for the Hilltoppers, as they defeated the team of Paula Gutierrez and Dejana Veljic by an 8-4 margin. The No. 3 doubles match was arguably the most entertaining match of the day as
RAFAELA HAEGELE and Marisa Williams battled Angie Torres and Eugenia Sanchez in a very heated contest. The two teams went back and forth, but Sanchez and Torres would ultimately prevail by a 9-7 margin.
With a narrow lead of 2-1, St. Edward's looked to win three singles matches to clinch the match. Cameron had other ideas, and they ultimately won four of the six singles matches. At No. 1 singles Haegele dropped her match against Gutierrez by scores of 6-3, 6-4. Khadzyhan fought Torres to a tiebreaker in the first set, but Torres would win in straight sets 7-6 and 6-1. Zecevic tried her best to earn a point for the Hilltoppers at the No. 3 position, but Wood would prove too much as she fell 6-1, 6-3.
Chaher stepped up for St. Edward's and took care of her No. 4 match with Kovinic, winning by a 6-1, 6-4 results. Marisa Williams, who has seen limited singles action, also won a point for the Hilltoppers as she knocked off Veljic 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 6 position. However,
SUMMER BIGGS would narrowly lose to Sanchez at the No. 5 spot as she fought hard before falling 6-4, 6-3.
Head Coach Kendall Brooks did her best to summarize the tough loss after her team put forth a terrific effort. "5-4 matches never feel good when you come out on the losing end. We fought hard, especially our last two matches on court. We had all of the pressure on them. We need to have a short term memory and bounce back as we have another tough regional match tomorrow."
St. Edward's will travel to Wichita Falls, Texas tomorrow to face the #2 regionally ranked Midwestern State Mustangs. First serve is set for 10:00 a.m. from the MSU Tennis Center.
