April 29, 2011

Box Score

SAN ANTONIO - The Lamar University women's tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the Southland Conference Tournament with a 4-1 win over Sam Houston State in Friday's quarterfinals at the UTSA Tennis Center.

The second-seeded Lady Cardinals (19-2) meet third-seeded Northwestern State at 1 p.m. Saturday. The championship match is slated for 3 p.m. Sunday. The Lady Cardinals are seeking their first Southland Conference Tournament title since 2008.

Lamar opened the competition by earning the doubles point with wins at first and third doubles. In singles play, Lamar got wins from Mariaryeni Gutierrez at No. 1 singles, Kaltrina Harbuzi at No. 2 singles and Natalia Mayagoitia at No. 4 singles. Sam Houston State (7-10) registered its only win at sixth singles. The matches at third and fifth singles were left unfinished once Lamar secured the team win when Mayagoitia captured her match.

Gutierrez and Harbuzi each improved to 20-1 in singles competition on the season, while Mayagoitia moved to 15-6. With their win at first doubles, Gutierrez and Harbuzi improved to 18-3 on the season.

"We played better in doubles today, since we have been working on that more," Lamar coach David Wong said. "Singles was a little up-and-down today. I'm glad we got the first-round jitters out of the way. We're looking forward to the match (Saturday) against Northwestern State."

Northwestern State advanced to the semifinals with a 4-0 win over sixth-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Lamar posted a 5-2 win over the Lady Demons during the regular season.

LAMAR