Women's Tennis | 4/9/2016 4:25:00 PM

Box Score

ARLINGTON, Texas – IVANA ZECEVIC, the lone senior for St. Edward's Women's Tennis, helped the Hilltoppers remain undefeated in the Heartland Conference with a three-set, match-clinching win on Saturday afternoon at the Arlington Tennis Center.
 
Zecevic's win extends her winning streak to three in singles, and moves her to 7-3 in her last 10 outings. The Rotterdam, Holland native has also won three-straight in doubles with teammate, LAURA GALVAN. The duo is now 24-2 on the year. VALENTINA MARTINEZ also extended her run of success to three-consecutive wins in singles. As a freshman, Martinez now holds a singles record of 16-2 in dual play this spring.
 
The Hilltoppers are now 14-4 overall with flawless records in conference and regional play at 4-0 and 8-0, respectively. Newman is now 13-4 and 2-1.
 
"It was another good day, and a big win for us," said head coach Kendall Brooks. "I'm really proud of this team, and their determination. It was a very close match. We had a great start in doubles, and then it was a battle on every court in singles. We were fortunate enough to pull off some big wins. ANJALI SAMPATH played at a very high level today, and LAURA GALVAN was able to bounce back from yesterday's close loss. Valentina showed a lot of fight in her win as well. Ivana continues to be the heart of this team. She came through when we needed her today. We had very clear goals, and are now in a great position as we approach the end of conference play, and the regular season."
 
Zecevic's impact was felt early by the Jets as she and Galvan dominated No. 3 doubles, 8-1, to take the first point of the day. ELISA GUILLEN and Martinez made it back-to-back blowouts with an 8-1 win of their own at No. 1 doubles. A hard-fought battle at No. 2 went to Newman, but the Hilltoppers still held the 2-1 advantage.
 
Galvan opened singles play with a straight-set victory at No. 4, 6-4, 6-2, to push St. Edward's lead to two, and Sampath made it 4-1 with a convincing, 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1.
 
However, the match was far from over. Newman grabbed two-straight points by winning No. 3 and No. 6. With the Jets within one, it was Zecevic's time to shine.
 
The senior took set one of her No. 2 singles match, 6-3, but fell in set two, 1-6. In the final set, Zecevic showed her senior leadership and experience by collecting a 6-2 win to clinch the contest. Martinez followed up with an insurance point, taking No. 5, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.
 
Coach Brooks and her team will return home to face the top three teams in the South Central Region, starting with Cameron next Thursday at the Austin Tennis Academy. First serve is set for 11 a.m. with live stats available at GoHilltoppers.com.