HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University women's tennis team earned its second straight Southland Conference victory Wednesday morning, defeating UIW, 5-2, at the Southeastern Tennis Complex.
The victory evened the league record for SLU (9-3, 2-2 SLC). The Lions won two doubles matches and four singles contests on the way to its first win over UIW (3-8, 1-2 SLC) since the 2021-22 season.
"We got off to a great start in doubles again and that gave us positive momentum that carried us through the day," Southeastern head coach
Jason Hayes said. "UIW has had our number in recent years, so this is a big win to help boost our confidence moving forward."
SLU took wins on courts 2 and 3 to take the doubles point.
Aitana Darder and
Leana Gomez (7-4, 2-1 SLC) took down the Cardinal duo of Smilia Matrovic and Arnelle Montalvo, 7-5, on No. 2. On No. 3, the newest SLU duo of
Taisia Bolsova and
Claudia Di Leonardo (2-1, 2-1 SLC) earned a 6-3 win over UIW's McKenzy Byfield and Luciana Perez.
The bottom of the singles draw carried the day for the Lions, as UIW managed wins on courts 1 and 2. Di Leonardo (6-6, 1-3 SLC) earned her first league singles win of the spring with a 6-3, 7-6 win over Matrovic on court 3. On No. 4, SLU's
Panatchakorn Suanarsa (8-4, 2-2 SLC) cruised to a 6-0 win in the opening set, before Paez retired.
Darder (8-3, 2-2 SLC) was too much for Montalvo in a 6-4, 6-2 win on court 5. Bolsova (8-4, 3-1 SLC) handled Byfield, 6-3, 6-4 to help close out the win for the Lions.
Southeastern will continue its home stand March 18, hosting Loyola (N.O.) at 5 p.m. 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
For more information on Southeastern Tennis, follow @LionUpTennis on X and Instagram and like /lionupathletics on Facebook.
