Women's Tennis | 3/24/2016 8:10:00 PM
Box ScoreSTEPHENVILLE, Texas – On Thursday afternoon, Tarleton State took St. Edward's Women's Tennis down to the wire, but the Hilltoppers emerged victorious, 5-4, over the South Central Regional foe.
ANJALI SAMPATH clinched her second-straight match with a win at No. 1 singles. With
IVANA ZECEVIC out,
LAURA GALVAN teamed up with
PAOLA CARPIO to move to 14-0 in doubles. Galvan is now a combined 38-7 in her freshman year, including tournament and dual play in singles and doubles.
VALENTINA MARTINEZ also won, improving to a team-best 13-1 in singles. She is 10-0 in her last 10 starts.
With the triumph, St. Edward's improves to 6-0 in the region, and 11-3 overall. Tarleton State is now 9-4.
"Today's win was huge for us," said head coach Kendall Brooks. "Not so much in regards to ranking or record, but for how we overcame adversity. Ivana (Zecevic) couldn't go today, and so I was forced to shift things around last minute. After falling behind in doubles, I was worried how we would recover. The girls responded incredibly well. Despite how young they are, nothing really fazes them. Anjali's comeback impressed me, and it ended up being the difference in the match. It feels like we stole the victory, but we will take it and keep moving forward."
The TexAnns jumped out to an early lead in doubles with an 8-1 win at No. 1. St. Edward's response came via Galvan and Carpio, winning No. 3, 8-4. However, Tarleton State took the advantage into singles with an 8-5 win at No. 2.
The Hilltoppers were not to be kept from victory. In singles the visitors charged out to two straight victories. Carpio tied the match at 2-2 with a win by default after leading 3-0. Then, Martinez gave St. Edward's the lead by dominating at No. 4, 6-1, 6-2.
Playing with the lead,
ELISA GUILLEN extended the edge with a 6-3, 6-4 decision at No. 5; but Tarleton State took No. 3 to make it 4-3.
With the match within reach, Sampath rallied from behind at No. 1 to take set one in a tiebreaker by a margin of 7-4. The freshman then rolled to a 6-2 victory to give St. Edward's the win. A TexAnn win at No. 2 was meaningless.
Coach Brooks and her team take their winning streak to Edmond, Oklahoma next Friday for matches against Northeastern State, Lindenwood, and Central Oklahoma. The Hilltoppers will open the weekend series with Northeastern State on Friday at 11 a.m.
