CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Southeastern Louisiana University senior
Flory Bierma rallied past New Orleans' Raluca Puscas, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, on the No. 5 singles court to clinch a 4-3 victory for the Lions in the opening round of the Southland Conference Women's Tennis Championships Thursday afternoon at the Thomas J. Henry Tennis Courts.
With the win, SLU (11-9) advances to the quarterfinals, where it will face second-seeded UIW Friday at 2 p.m. Live stats for Friday's match will be accessible via the women's tennis schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
The victory was Southeastern's first in the postseason since the 2013 season and clinched the Lions' first winning season since 2016. UNO ends its season with an 8-10 overall record.
"New Orleans is young and talented, so we knew we were in for a fight," Southeastern head coach
Jason Hayes commented. "Some of our top players that have carried us all season didn't have their best games today, but their teammates stepped up in their place and we found a way to get a victory."
SLU started the match hot, cruising to a pair of victories to take the doubles point. On court 2,
Gabrielle Dekkers and
Carla Del Barrio (6-7) defeated the UNO All-SLC pair of Didi Bredberg Canizares and Puscas, 6-2. The Southeastern all-conference duo of Bierma and Insani (13-5) gave the Lions a 1-0 lead with a 6-3 win over Laurie Barendse and Tristanne Dechoux on No. 1.
"We really played well in doubles and I loved our aggressiveness," Hayes said. "But we came out flat to start singles play. We fortunately had several players step up to help us advance."
UNO took a 2-1 lead with straight-set victories on the top two singles courts. SLU evened the match on court 6, as
Alba Perez (8-10) was too much for Audelia Morin Kougoucheff in a 6-2, 6-0 victory.
Southeastern took the lead on No. 3, as Del Barrio (10-8) swept past Anastassia Kouchnareva for a 6-4, 6-4 victory and a 3-2 Southeastern advantage. The Privateers quickly knotted it back up with a straight-set win on No. 4, leaving it all up to Bierma and Puscas on court 5.
Bierma dropped the first set and had to fight back in the second set from down 5-3 and facing match point. The native of Kapelle, The Netherlands evened her record to 9-9 in singles play in her final season in the green and gold.
"This was a case of a senior who just wasn't quite ready for her career to be over," Hayes commented. "I can't say enough about Flory's effort today. This is a win she'll remember forever."
Southeastern 4, New Orleans 3
Singles:
No. 1 Didi Bredberg Canizares (UNO) def.
Putri Insani (SLU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 Laurie Barendse (UNO) def.
Gabrielle Dekkers (SLU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 3
Carla Del Barrio (SLU) def. Anastassia Kouchnareva (UNO) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Tristanne Dechoux (UNO) def.
Kate Oborina (SLU) 7-5, 6-4
No. 5
Flory Bierma (SLU) def. Raluca Puscas (UNO) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 6
Alba Perez (SLU) def. Audelia Morin Kougoucheff (UNO) 6-2, 6-0
Doubles:
No. 1
Flory Bierma/
Putri Insani (SLU) def. Barendse/Dechoux (UNO) 6-3
No. 2 Dekkers/Del Barrio (SLU) def. Canizares/Puscas (UNO) 6-2
No. 3 Oborina/Perez (SLU) vs. Kouchnareva/Ksenia Reznitskaya (UNO) 5-3, unfinished
2023 Southland Conference Women's Tennis Championships | April 20-23 | Thomas J. Henry Tennis Courts | Corpus Christi, Texas
Thursday, April 20 | First Round
Match 1 | No. 9 Nicholls 4, No. 8 Bryant 1
Match 2 | No. 7 Southeastern 4, No. 10 New Orleans 3
Friday, April 21 | Quarterfinals
Match 3 | No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Nicholls | 10 a.m.
Match 4 | No. 4 Northwestern State vs. No. 5 NJIT | 10 a.m.
Match 5 | No. 2 UIW vs. Southeastern | 2 p.m.
Match 6 | No. 3 McNeese vs. No. 6 Lamar | 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 22 | Semifinals
Match 7 | Match 3 winner vs. Match 4 winner | 10 a.m.
Match 8 | Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner | 10 a.m.
Sunday, April 23 | Finals
Match 9 | Semifinal winners | 10 a.m. | ESPN+
40 LOVE CLUB
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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