HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana women's tennis team pushed unbeaten UL Lafayette to the brink before ultimately dropping a 4-3 decision to the Ragin' Cajuns in a hard-fought nonconference match Thursday evening at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
The Lions (4-2) took the early lead by winning on the top two doubles courts. However, UL Lafayette (7-0) took four of six singles matches to remain unbeaten and snap SLU's four-match win streak.
"We were really pleased with how we competed today against a very talented UL Lafayette team," Southeastern head coach
Jason Hayes said. "We prepared for today like it was a conference match and we came out focused in doubles and really battled in singles play. I'm very proud of the effort."
Southeastern took an early 1-0 lead after earning the doubles point. On No. 1,
Putri Insani and
Ximena Yanez (5-1) took a 6-3 decision over the Ragin' Cajun duo of Clara Mantaux and Dana Radovanovic. The SLU duo of
Kim Bohlen and
Flory Bierma (5-0) remained undefeated, clinching the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Mariona Perez and Angel Santiago on No. 2.
On the No. 5 singles court,
Teodora Mitrovic (4-0) gave Southeastern a 2-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marina Rodriguez Garcia. UL Lafayette got its first point on No. 3, as Mantaux swept past
Polina Sleptsova (2-2), 6-3, 6-1.
Bohlen (4-0) pushed the Lady Lion lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hoda Habib on court 6. However, UL Lafayette earned straight set victories on courts 1 and 4 to tie the score.
Bierma (2-2) nearly rallied from a 5-0 third-set deficit, but ultimately dropped the deciding match, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to UL Lafayette's Lucie Raquin on No. 2.
Up Next
Southeastern will close out its preconference schedule on Sunday, facing Wyoming at 1 p.m. in McComb, Mississippi.
40 LOVE CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the tennis program are encouraged to join the 40 Love Club. Lion tennis alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the 40 Love Club and S Club (tennis) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern tennis program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
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