The Lady Lions tennis team (14-1, 4-0 Southland) was handed its first loss of the season by the No. 63 Virginia Tech Hokies (12-2) last week, snapping a 12-game winning streak with a 6-1 score.
According to head coach Jason Hayes, the snap had to happen eventually, and he is happy that was not in conference play.
“You can’t enjoy 12 wins and expect everything to work out perfectly,” said Hayes. “I’m just glad it’s non-conference. For conference, we’re going to have to look at new doubles combinations and new singles placement. It’s going to be challenging, and I’m definitely going to earn my pay over the next two days before we play McNeese.”
Virginia Tech opened the match by winning the doubles point. Ranked at No. 1, Illinca Stoica and Kelly Willford defeated the Southeastern freshmen Reginka Nychytailova and Nastya Tokareva, 8-2. Freshman Renee Villarreal and sophomore Adriana Castillo (9-1) were handed their first loss of the spring and are now ranked second for doubles.
In singles play Villarreal remains undefeated, now sporting an 11-0 record as a Lion.
“It was really tough. We’ve had two really rough games so far, but I think this game has been the toughest,” said Villarreal. “But also this is the game I played the best. My opponent was very nice and that made me play better and more confidently. I was nervous about going up against a nationally-ranked team at first, but then I thought I have nothing to lose, so I played my best. I started up from the beginning and went all the way through the end.”
The Hokies picked up straight set wins on courts 2, 3, 5 and 6, as Tokareva (12-1), senior Isabel Brito (9-1) and Castillo (3-1) all fell for the first time this spring. The only three-set match was on the top court, where Stoica fought off Nychytailova, 3-6, 6-2 and 10-6.
Despite the loss, a large crowd turned out for the match to watch their undefeated Lady Lions go head to head with the nationally ranked Hokies, something that has often been vacant from their winning streak.
Hayes commented to lionsports.net, “The crowd tonight was fantastic – the best I’ve seen in my 12 years at Southeastern. It meant a lot to both our players and myself to have that level of support tonight.”
Southeastern returned to the Southland Conference against McNeese State on Saturday, 5-2, and Lamar on Sunday, 6-1, with a vengeance. After the triumphant weekend, the Lady Lions stood undefeated in conference play with a 3-0 record.
After standing off Lamar, Lion Villarreal (13-0) remained undefeated at singles play with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Alessandra Pessini on the No. 3 court. Rusakova (10-5) took a 6-1, 6-4 decision versus Alicia Porte at No. 4 to become the fifth Lion to reach double-digit singles victories this spring. Southeastern rallied for two victories in doubles play to take a 1-0 lead.
At No. 1, junior Valya Rusakova (5-1) handled the Lamar tandem of Carolina Salas and Helene Czudek, 9-8 (8-5). The new Lion duo of Brito and Nychytailova (2-0) fought off a match point in a 9-8 (8-6) win over Natalia Maiyagoitia and Dariya Dashutina at No. 3.
The Lady Lions will be going head to head against Alcorn State and Jackson State on Saturday, March 23 at the Southeastern Tennis Complex from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.