HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's tennis team will open up play at the Southland Conference Tennis Championships Thursday, facing Nicholls in a 10 a.m. first round match at the McFarlin Tennis Center in San Antonio.
 
The winner of Thursday's first round match between No. 7 seed SLU (9-11) and the 10^th-seeded Colonels (6-13) will advance to face No. 2 seed McNeese (18-3) in the quarterfinals Friday at 2 p.m.
 
First serve for Saturday's semifinals and Sunday's championship match is set for 10 a.m. The winner of the tournament receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
 
Southeastern won two of its last three conference matches heading into the postseason. Bente Bierma (9-8), Kate Oborina (8-4) and Taisia Bolsova (7-4) each have winning singles records in dual match play entering the SLC Tournament.
 
The Lions have used eight different doubles pairings during the regular season. Bolsova and Alba Perez have teamed for a team-best 4-3 mark on the No. 2 court.
 
Constanza Cruz is 7-5 overall and has the best singles record on the Nicholls roster. She and Carla Bouygues have teamed for a team-best five doubles wins, including a pair of conference victories.
 
Southeastern and Nicholls squared off less than two weeks ago with the SLU claiming a 5-2 victory April 5 in Thibodaux. After the Colonels took the doubles point, the Lions rallied to earn the win behind singles victories by Oborina, Bierma, Bolsova, Leana Gomez and Claudia Di Leonardo.
 
Should Southeastern get past the first round, a McNeese squad led in singles play by Anastasija Adelkyte (16-2) awaits. Adeikyte and Arina Gamretkaia lead the Cowgirls with an 18-3 doubles record on the top court.
 
That No. 1 McNeese pair was the only one that emerged victorious when the Lions traveled to Lake Charles March 23. Bolsova and Perez won on court 2, while on No. 3 Bogi Csordas and Panatchakorn Suanarsa clinched the point for SLU. The Cowgirls rallied to win all six singles matches, including two in three sets, in a 6-1 victory.
 
Southeastern will be looking to earn a postseason victory for the second straight season. Last spring, SLU earned a 4-3 victory over New Orleans in the opening round, before falling, 4-1, to UIW in the quarterfinals.
 
2024 Southland Conference Women's Tennis Championships
 
Thursday, April 18 – First Round
Match 1 | No. 8 Lamar vs. No. 9 Bryant | 10 a.m.
Match 2 | No. 7 Southeastern vs. No. 10 Nicholls | 10 a.m.
 
Friday, April 19 – Quarterfinals
Match 3 | No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Match 1 winner | 10 a.m.
Match 4 | No. 4 New Orleans vs. No. 5 UIW | 10 a.m.
Match 5 | No. 2 McNeese vs. Match 2 winner | 2 p.m.
Match 6 | No. 3 NJIT vs. No. 6 Northwestern State | 2 p.m.
 
Saturday, April 20 – 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 21 – Finals
Match 9 | Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner | 10 a.m.
 
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.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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