Box Score

HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana freshman Renee Villarreal and junior Valya Rusakova each picked up singles victories, but it was not enough for the Lions to overcome Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Southland Conference women's tennis action Friday afternoon at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
 
The Lions fell to 14-2 overall and 4-1 in Southland Conference play after suffering its first league loss. The visiting Islanders ran their record to 11-1 overall and 4-1 in league action.
 
“Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is a very talented and well-coached team,” Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes commented. “We have a lot of respect for them and they deserved the victory today. That said, we certainly did not offer our best effort or play to our standard. The loss doesn't disappoint me as much as the fact that we did not give maximum effort.”
 
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi took an early lead by taking the doubles point. At No. 1, Doris Kuselj and Stefania Nicolae got past the Southeastern duo of Rusakova and freshman Nastya Tokareva. The Islanders closed the doubles point on the No. 3 court, where Maider Martin and Mia Matuszak edged Southeastern freshman Reginka Nychytailova and senior Isabel Brito, 8-6.
 
Southeastern evened the match quickly in singles play. Villarreal (14-0) remained unbeaten in dual match singles play with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sandra Burges. The Islanders bounced back, clinching the match with wins on courts 1,2,5 and 6.
 
Rusakova (11-5) provided Southeastern with its final point. The Moscow, Russia native rallied from a set down to defeat Nicolae, 4-6, 6-1, 11-9.
 
Southeastern will look to bounce back on Saturday, when it hosts Sam Houston State at 11 a.m. at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.