Final Stats

CONWAY, Ark. - It all came down to court six, to a freshman and to the third set. Stephanie Marchena and Bianca Strukelj battled the entire match and exchanged blows back-and-fourth, but Lamar's freshman Marchena took the 6-6 tiebreak and gave the women's tennis team a 4-3 win over Central Arkansas on Saturday to claim its first Southland Conference victory and win its fourth straight match.

UCA junior Strukelj took the first 6-4, and then jumped up 4-1 in the second set over Marchena. Marchena answered and tied it at 4-4, then 5-4 and took the second set 6-4 to tie the match at 1-1.

"She started shaky because she knew the result fell on her. We got her focused and calm, and she was thinking more clearly," said head coach David Wong. "She felt the pressure. By her calming down and focusing in on the ball, she was able to overcome all of that."

In almost the same fashion, Marchena jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Strukelj before it was tied at 2-2. Marchena pulled away to make it 5-2, but Strukelj would not go away and answered to take a 6-5 lead. Marchena tied the match at 6-6 and then took the tiebreak and won the match, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

"That had the feel of a professional match. They were hitting, they were hitting," said Wong a sound relief in his voice. "It was just very intense, every point was very intense. She endured that. She was serving 5-6 and was still able to control herself.

"Being a freshman, it was a lot of pressure on her. She played maturely even under the pressure," he said.

Her win upped her singles win streak to five and improved her record to 7-3 on the year.

The Lady Cardinals improved to 7-8 overall and 1-4 in Southland Conference action. Central Arkansas fell to 7-4 on the season and 2-4 in league play.

Before Marchena's match, LU took the doubles point to jump up 1-0. After singles No. 1, 2, 3, and 4 were finished, Central Arkansas was clinging to a 3-2 lead. Hanna Elfving tied the match from court five in three sets with a win over Cassidy Crawford, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Elfving's win improved her record in singles action to 7-5, and 5-4 on court five.

Anna Spengler downed Kelsey Williams on No. 2 and had to battle back to do it. She fell in a 7-6 heartbreaker in set one before she promptly took care of Williams, 6-3, 6-1 to close out the match. She improved to 6-8 for the season.

"I am very proud of my team. They played for each other, and then when they were done they would cheer for each other," said Wong. "It went back-and-forth all the way to the end. They played together.

"We're known by how we fight," said Wong. "And today we fought like Cardinals."

The Lady Cardinals wrapped up the doubles points from courts one and three. Carolina Maso and Katya Lapayeva defeated Nataly Yoo and Crawford 8-5 on No. 1. They improved their team record to 4-4 this season, all from the first line.

Court three saw Marchena and Elfving take down Kristina Horsikyan and Strukelj 8-5. Their team record moved up to 4-3, all from the third line.

Yoo took court one of singles on a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-2 win over Katya Lapayeva. Lines three and four were both finished in tight battles, despite playing only two sets. Horsikyan downed Andrea Ivanovic 6-1 in the first set, but Ivanovic pushed back in the second. She fell just short and lost the match 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Court four was much the same after Allison Murphy beat Carolina Maso 6-3 in the first set, but had to squeak by to win the second 7-5.

The Lady Cards ended their four-match road swing with the win over UCA, and were a perfect 4-0 in that span. They return home for a two matches, first is Incarnate Word at 2 o'clock on Friday and second against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1:00 on Sunday.

Lamar 4, Central Arkansas 3