BEAUMONT, Texas â The Southeastern Louisiana University women’s tennis team broke through for its first Southland Conference victory of the spring in convincing fashion with a 7-0 victory over Lamar Monday afternoon at the Thompson Family Center.
Southeastern (8-10, 1-4 SLC) swept through doubles and singles play to take down the host Cardinals (9-10, 2-3 SLC).
“We knew if we kept knocking on the door, we’d eventually kick it in,” Southeastern head coach Jason Hayes said. “We had to fight on every court, but this was a result that came from the hard work we’ve put in and steady improvement we’ve shown all spring. This win shows that when we play our best tennis, we can play with anyone in the Southland Conference.”
SLU jumped out to the early lead in doubles. On the No. 1 court, the Lion duo of Bente Bierma and Leana Gomez (4-9, 1-2 SLC) took a 6-2 win over Lamar’s Leah Kuruvilla and Megan Do. Bogi Csordas and Panatchakorn Suanarsa (4-2, 2-0 SLC) gave the Lions the 1-0 lead with a 6-1 win over Nouray Metwally and Elena Rubio on No. 3.
Playing against her former team, SLU’s Alba Perez (4-9, 1-3 SLC) extended the lead to 1-0, defeating Kuruvilla, 6-1, 6-4 on the top singles court. Suanarsa (7-6, 1-2 SLC) gave the Lions a 3-0 advantage, sweeping past Martina Alcaino, 6-3, 7-5, on No. 6.
On the No. 5 court, Southeastern’s Claudia Di Leonardo (3-9, 2-3 SLC) came out on the right side of a pair of tie-breakers, besting Metwally, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), to clinch the win for SLU. The remaining three matches were decided in three sets.
On No. 3, Kate Oborina (7-3, 1-3 SLC) outlasted Do, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Bierma (8-7, 1-2 SLC) rallied past Rubio for a 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4 win on court 4. Gomez (6-7, 2-2 SLC) completed the shutout with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Marika Mueller on No. 2.
Monday’s match was the start of a stretch of three straight SLC contests on the road for Southeastern. The Lions will travel to Nicholls for a 2 p.m. match Friday.
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 [email protected] 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.
