Lady Lion’s tennis dominated the Northwestern State University Lady Demon Invite with senior Renee Villarreal and sophomore Dalina Dahlmans leading the team to a successful weekend in Natchitoches.
Villarreal and Dahlmans won the top two singles matches, and they also teamed up to win the doubles match. Villarreal is undefeated in singles matches this season so far.
“My thought process [for the tournament] was going to make the best out of this weekend,” said Dahlmans. “My goal was to win the tournament in my draw in singles and also in doubles. It was a huge goal for me because I knew I had to give everything on court to achieve my goal. And I’m also glad to bring home two victories to Southeastern.”
Junior Margaux Kaltenbacher also won her singles match and went undefeated in the number six draw. Sophomores Lucia Bustamante and Cecilia Mercier made it to the consolation finals of the number three and four draws. This duo also won the consolation bracket of the number two doubles draw.
“Overall the team did really well this weekend,” said Dahlmans. “Every player on the team finished up with winning records. I’m glad with how we played, and I liked the attitude of every single player on the team. We have a really good team spirit, and we show this off and on court.”
Villarreal, in the number one singles bracket, started with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Lamar’s Anna Spengler. She also beat McNeese State’s Giovanna Fioretti, 6-2, 0-6, and 10-7 and finished the tournament with a victory over Lamar’s Katya Lapayeva, 6-1, 6-1.
Dahlmans started the tournament with beating Stephen F. Austin’s Lauren Hidalgo Smith, 3-6, 7-5, and 10-7. She also won a straight-set against Lamar’s Luciana Di Laura, 6-1, 7-6 in the semifinals and in the finals taking the win over Nicholls’ Clemence Krug, 6-1, 6-4.
Kaltenbacher beat Morgan Fremin from Louisiana-Lafayette 6-3, 6-2. She finished her bracket with a win over NWLA’s Barbora Kollarova, 1-6, 6-3 and 11-9.
Dahlmans and Villarreal beat the Ladyjack duo on Friday and won 6-3 on Saturday over McNeese State’s Vivien Borberly and Hannah Brett. This duo closed the weekend out with a 6-4 victory over Mississippi State University’s Fioretti and Sarah Jurakova.
“All the players did great. I am so proud of how tight this group is. They support each other, and they believe in each other; that’s why everyone was successful this weekend,” said Head Coach Jason Hayes. “The main thing for us going into next weekend is we want to continue to get a little stronger and a little smarter with each match we play.”
The Lady Lions will continue their season in the West Florida Invitational on October 16 to 17 in Pensacola, Florida.
“Our goal this year is to be in a position to win another championship. We all know how difficult a challenge that will be considering the depth of talent in our conference, but we believe in each other. We know that if we work together, we can be successful,” said Hayes.
For more information, including a full schedule, please visit lionsports.net.