HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's tennis team picked up its first Southland Conference victory of the spring Monday, defeating Lamar, 5-2, at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
 
Southeastern (8-3, 1-2 SLC) improved to 6-1 at home this season, winning two doubles matches and four of six singles matches to defeat the visiting Cardinals (2-10, 0-2 SLC).
 
"We really set the tone for the day in doubles," Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes said. "We've been focusing on being more aggressive in doubles and we saw the benefit of that hard work today. Anytime Lamar comes to town, we know we're in for a battle. I was proud of how our team was able to match their fight and come out with a conference victory today."
 
In doubles play, SLU's Taisia Bolsova and Claudia Di Leonardo (1-1, 1-1 SLC) rolled to a 6-0 victory over Emma Palus and Savannah Bijlsma on the No. 3 court. The Southeastern pair of Aitana Darder and Leana Gomez (6-4, 1-1 SLC) clinched the doubles point for the Lions with a 6-4 win over Arina Gudovskaya and Martina Alcaino on court 2.
 
Bolsova (7-4, 2-1 SLC) gave SLU a 2-0 advantage with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Palus. on court 6. Lamar answered, evening the match with straight-set victories on courts 1 and 3.
 
On No. 4, Panatchakorn Suanarsa (7-4, 1-2 SLC) gave Southeastern the lead for good with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Alcaino. Minutes later, Bente Bierma (4-6, 1-2 SLC) clinched the match with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win over Asta Miettinen on No. 2. Darder (7-3, 1-2 SLC) put the finishing touches on the victory on court 5, rallying past Bijlsma for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
 
SLU will return to action Wednesday, hosting UIW at 9 a.m. for a Southland Conference match at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
 
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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