SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's tennis team suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Nicholls in the first round of the Southland Conference Tennis Championships Thursday morning at the McFarrin Tennis Center.
Southeastern finished the spring with a 9-12 overall record. Nicholls (7-13) advances to face second-seeded McNeese in Friday's quarterfinals at 2 p.m.
"Today wasn't our day," SLU head coach
Jason Hayes commented. "We came out nervous and it showed in our decision making and footwork. Nicholls deserved the win."
In doubles, the Southeastern pairing of
Alba Perez and
Bogi Csordas (4-3) rolled to a 6-0 win on the No. 3 court over Nicholls' Betija Dusele and Dareen Hassan. However, the Colonels countered with wins on the top two courts to take a 1-0 lead.
Nicholls grew the lead to 3-0 with straight-set victories on courts 2 and 3. SLU freshman
Claudia Di Leonardo (6-9) put the Lions on the board with her fourth straight singles win to close the spring, topping Noemie Piquet, 6-3, 6-2 on No. 5. However, the Colonels closed out the match with a straight-set win on No. 1 to advance.
A young Lion roster showed steady improvement and will benefit moving forward from the experience gained this spring. Perez is the lone senior on the 2024 Southeastern squad.
"Despite today's loss, I would still consider this season a success," Hayes said. "We grew so much as a team over the course of the season and consistently played with great effort. We'll be back and better next season."
2024 Southland Conference Women's Tennis Championships
Thursday, April 18 – First Round
Match 1 | Bryant 4, Lamar 0
Match 2 | Nicholls 4, Southeastern 1
Friday, April 19 – Quarterfinals
Match 3 | No. 1 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs. Bryant | 10 a.m.
Match 4 | No. 4 New Orleans vs. No. 5 UIW | 10 a.m.
Match 5 | No. 2 McNeese vs. Nicholls | 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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