Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State University
Ladyjacks Receive Wins from Kamal and Ljubic in 5-2 Loss to Sam Houston State
3/4/2018 4:16:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Kamal and Ljubic post singles wins for Ladyjacks
Box Score
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Hoping to secure their first victory of the 2018 season, the Stephen F. Austin tennis team received singles wins from Kaja Ljubic and Nida Kamal but Sam Houston State captured the remaining five points to post a 5-2 Southland Conference victory over the Ladyjacks at the Schlief Tennis Complex Sunday afternoon.
"We were just a bit lethargic from the emotional match yesterday but we hung around and gave ourselves a chance," SFA head coach Jon McLaughlin said following the match. "We played from behind on the scoreboard on too many singles courts to come out on top today but this team continues to fight and compete no matter the situation. I was proud of our spirit and I know we will dig a little deeper and push ourselves a little harder this week as we continue to tighten up and win some of these close battles."
From a team points standpoint, the Ladyjacks never led after the Bearkats captured the doubles point by taking two out of three tandem matches. Gabi Guilarte and Siân Payne were leading Sam Houston State's duo of Fabienne Gettwart and Khee Yen Wee 4-3 in the number- two doubles flight when the match was stopped after the Bearkats claimed a 6-3 win in the third flight and a 6-4 triumph in the first flight.
Armelle Cerdan dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Carrie Casey in number four singles before Kaja Ljubic's 7-6 (3-1), 6-2 victory over Mila Milanovic on the number five singles line helped the Ladyjacks pull within one of Sam Houston State.
That was as small as SFA could make its deficit, however, as Darinka Tiboldi fell to Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-3, 6-4 in number-three singles. For the second time in as many days Guilarte forced a deciding third set in top flight singles action. Fabienne Gettwart won set one 6-0 before Guilarte bounced back to tie matters with a 6-4 win in set two. Unfortunately, Guilarte was unable to keep up her strong play in the third set and fell 6-3 in that frame. That setback upped the Bearkats' lead to 4-1.
A strong start from Kamal in the number-six singles match saw her take set one over Lusine Chobanyan by a 6-3 tally. Kamal stumbled in the second, falling 6-0, before she recovered to win the match with a 6-4 victory in the third and final set.
Payne also forced a third and deciding set on the number-two singles line after claiming a 6-3 victory over Yee Wen in set two. Yee Wen, however, closed out the match with a 1-0 (9-7) win in the third set to lock up a 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (9-7) victory. That decision ended the match.
Next week the Ladyjacks head to Louisiana for another pair of Southland Conference matches. SFA's weekend stay in the Pelican State starts Saturday in Thibodaux, La., at 1:00 p.m. when the Ladyjacks take on Nicholls.
-SFA-
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Players Mentioned
