March 7, 2005
Results
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Strong singles play and a doubles tiebreaker victory helped lift the Lamar women's tennis team to its first Southland Conference victory of the season, as the Lady Cardinals knocked off Stephen F. Austin, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at the SFA Tennis Complex.
The victory evened LU's overall record at 5-5, including a 1-1 league mark. SFA fell to 3-6 on the year and 0-2 in SLC play.
Sunday's match started with doubles play where LU's No. 1 team of Andrea Martinez and Tara Shelander rolled to their ninth straight win with an 8-2 decision over SFA's Robin Houston and Kama Scott. The Lady Cardinals' No. 2 team fell, 8-5, to Ashley Johnson and Megan Langston, placing added importance on the No. 3 doubles match.
After battling to an 8-8 tie in the pro set match, Lamar's Hayley Bakker and Marion Brument overcame SFA's Lauren Nowicki and Laura Harrison, 9-7, in the tiebreaker to clinch the victory. The win gave LU 2-of-3 doubles matches, which gave the Lady Cardinals the first point of the match.
Leading 1-0, the Lady Cards turned up the pressure in singles action by taking four of the six matches. A sophomore from Durango, Mexico, Martinez improved to 6-4 on the year and 2-0 in SLC play with her fifth straight win at the No. 1. The 5-7 right-hander almost shutout SFA's top player with a straight set victory, 6-0 and 6-1.
Shelander and Bakker also won in straight set fashion, posting identical scores of 6-4 and 6-2 to win at the No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Both players improved to 6-4 for the spring, while Bakker stayed perfect at 2-0 in league play with her sixth straight victory.
Brument, a freshman from Groffliers, France, also improved to 6-4 for the season after a three-set win at the No. 5. She overcame a 6-4 first-set loss to win 6-0 and 6-2 in the second and third sets.
SFA's only singles wins came at the No. 4 and No. 6 positions. Gibbs, a junior from Mansfield, lost a tough match in the No. 4 after winning the first set 6-0. SFA's Johnson took the second set 6-4 and then held off Gibbs 10-4 to win the match. At the No. 6, Lamar's LeRoy fell in straight sets to Scott, 6-3 and 6-2.
After posting a 1-1 record in last weekend's road matches, the Lady Cardinals now turn their focus to this weekend when they host Northwestern State and Louisiana-Monroe in a pair of SLC home matches. LU takes on NSU at 10 a.m. on Sat., Mar. 12, followed by a 9 a.m. dual match versus ULM on Sunday, Mar. 13. Lamar also plays host to Prairie View A&M at 3 p.m. on Sunday in non-conference action.
