Stephen F. Austin
Tulane
SFA Tennis Upsets No. 59 Tulane
3/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 2, 2012
NEW ORLEANS, La. - Less than a week after receiving its highest ranking in school history, the No. 60 Stephen F. Austin women's tennis team notched its first win over a nationally ranked opponent in program history. SFA defeated No. 59 Tulane, 5-2, in front of a partisan Green Wave crowd Friday afternoon in New Orleans, La.
"This was a great win for our program," said head coach Patrick Sullivan. "When you see that many sevens on a scoreboard you know it was a great collegiate match. It took everything we had to get past a very tough, and well-coached Tulane team. After a very tough doubles point, we came out flat in singles and Tulane was in control of the match until the end when several of our girls came up with clutch finishes."
All three doubles matches were close battles that ended in two-point decisions. The 'Jacks duo of freshmen Tereza Bekerova and Malena Gordo notched the first victory of the match with an 8-6 win over Mariam Kurdadze and Emma Levy at No. 1 singles. The advantage was short lived as the Green Wave battled back to upset SFA's 59th-ranked doubles team of senior Alina Shazhko and Jithmie Jayawickrema, 8-6 at No. 2 doubles. SFA closed out the doubles with a victory at No. 3 singles when the team of Elena Kordolaimi and Laura Service notched a 9-7 win at No. 3.
"I was very proud of how our doubles teams played," said Sullivan. "We threw (Laura) Servise into the fire at the No. 3 spot and she responded beautifully."
SFA pushed its advantage to 2-0 before the Green Wave mounted a rally. Tulane picked up consecutive wins at Nos. 3-4 singles to tie the match at 2. After Kordolaimi gave SFA back the lead with her tough three-set win, 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, over Tulane's Levy at No. 2 singles, SFA relied on its depth at the bottom of the lineup to bring home the win. Gordo iced the win with her three-set victory over Tulane's Lindsay Dvorak, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5, at No. 6 singles. Junior Antonia Kolovou closed out the scoring with her three-setter over Jenny Hois, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
"This is a great way to start a long weekend," said Sullivan. "But we have to put this victory behind us and get ready for tomorrow. The win will be meaningless if we can't follow it up with a conference victory over Southeastern Louisiana."
The 'Jacks return to conference action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Hammond, La., to face Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. The match against the Lady Lions will be the second of four matches SFA will play during a three-day swing through the state of Louisiana.
-SFA-
