Women's Tennis | 3/4/2016 9:10:00 PM
Box ScoreAUSTIN, Texas – St. Edward's Women's Tennis trailed Florida Southern after doubles play, 2-1, battled back to tie the match at 3-3, before falling 5-4 on Friday afternoon at the Strohmeyer Varsity Courts.
Despite the loss, there were many bright spots for the Hilltoppers.
ELISA GUILLEN and
VALENTINA MARTINEZ both improved to 8-1 this spring with straight-set wins in singles.
IVANA ZECEVIC and
LAURA GALVAN won easily at No. 3 doubles. They remain undefeated on the season at 9-0.
ANJALI SAMPATH also scored a big win in three sets at No. 1 singles.
The loss snaps a four-match winning streak for St. Edward's as they move to 6-3. Florida Southern moves over .500 to 3-2.
"Today's loss hurts. I think any loss is tough, but especially the close ones," said head coach Kendall Brooks. "This was our first, truly close match of the season, and I feel like we had some missed opportunities in doubles, and also on some courts in singles. I knew this was going to be a battle going in. Hats off to Florida Southern. They fought hard, and never let up the whole day. I was really impressed with Anjali today. Valentina was solid in singles, and Elisa continues to win matches for us. We need to let this one go, and bounce back tomorrow."
Florida Southern drew first blood in the match with an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles, but Zecevic and Galvan quickly tied things up with an 8-4 victory of their own. A battle ensued at No. 2 doubles. Martinez and Guillen came back from 3-6 to go up 8-7, and in the tiebreaker fought back from 1-5 to tie it at 5-5. However, the Mocs prevailed and won 7-5 in the tiebreaker.
The 2-1 lead for the visitors did not last long in singles play. Martinez dominated at No. 5 singles, 6-0, 6-2, to tie the match, 2-2. Wins for the Mocs at No. 3 and No. 4 singles made it 4-2, but the Hilltoppers would not go without a fight. Sampath fought a battle at No. 1 singles and came out on top, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. A dogfight at No. 2 singles proved to be the deciding match. After winning the first set, Zecevic lost the lead in sets two and three. That win clinched the team victory for the Mocs. Guillen's 6-0, 7-5 win at No. 6 ended the day on a bright note for the home team.
Coach Brooks and her team wrap up a stretch of three matches in three days on Saturday against Dallas Baptist. The contest marks St. Edward's second Heartland Conference match of the year. Play is set to begin at 10 a.m. with live stats available at GoHilltoppers.com.
