COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Southeastern doubles tandem of Zdenka Puflerova and Breda Kovac advanced to the quarterfinals of this weekend’s Wilson/ITA Southwest Region Women’s Tennis Tournament at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.

Puflerova and Kovac opened the tournament by defeating Katherine Harris and Krysta Lee of North Texas, 8-4. Harris and Lee finished last season as the 10th-ranked team in the Southwest Region. Puflerova and Kovac followed this in the second round with a convincing 8-1 victory over Northwestern State’s Alexandra Nieto and Anneline Zerwick, a second-team All-Southland Conference duo in 2004.

In the round of 16, Kovac and Puflerova faced a team representing defending SLC Tournament Champion Texas-Arlington, that featured SLC Freshman of the Year Daniela Novakova – a First-Team All-SLC selection last season in both singles and doubles - and Gretel Hach. The Lady Lion duo won a hard-fought match over the UTA tandem, as they got the best of a 9-7 decision. In the quarterfinals, the TCU duo of Helena Besovic and Karla Mancinas – the number nine seeds in the bracket – were too much for Kovac and Puflerova, who lost the match 8-3.

Southeastern’s first two fall outings have seen Lady Lion players defeat All-Southland Conference honorees from UTA, Northwestern State and McNeese State. The marked improvement the Lady Lions have shown is evident, according to Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes.

“To be able to not only compete with, but defeat, some of the top players in the conference and region shows how far this program has grown in the past three months,” Hayes commented. “We are very pleased with the progress both our women’s and men’s teams have made. With even more top-flight talent coming in January, we are extremely excited about the spring season.”

In singles action, Kovac opened the tourney by defeating Texas A&M’s Anna Lubinsky – one of the Aggies’ top singles players – in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Kovac was eliminated from the tournament by ninth-seeded Zuzana Cerna of Baylor, 6-0, 6-1. Puflerova earned a dominant 6-1, 6-3 victory over Texas-Pan American’s Silke Buksik in the opening round. In second round action, Puflerova stretched 2004 Southland Conference Player of the Year Paula Erasquin of UTA to three sets, before dropping a 2-6, 6-1, 10-4 decision.

The Lady Lions will be back in action on Nov. 5, when they will be in Houston, Texas to participate in the three-day Houston Invitational.