Kristen williams/The Lion’s Roar
Throughout two games against Stephen F. Austin and Northwestern State, the Lady Lions fought to stay on their feet. This was the Lady Lions first home game in a month following the loss last week at UNO.
Southeastern lost 5-2 overall. Fleur Holtkamp and Madina Vorotnikova won in singles play, but it was not enough to take home a victory against SFA.
“We played real well,” said Head Coach Jason Hayes. “I’m proud of them. We’re short-handed with some injuries but the girls come out and fight to represent Southeastern the way that we want them to.”
Vorotnikova kept the Lady Lions in the game by winning her third straight match finishing 6-2 and 7-5.
“I think we played really good,” said Vorotnikova. “It was tough, we were all fighting out there. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, but I am a true believer that hard work pays off, and if we keep going, it’s going to come to us.”
Hayes believes the loss did not stop anything, but in fact will push them to work even harder.
“How they play, how hard they play, how hard they compete and how much class they show means the world to me,” said Hayes. “As long as they keep up great sportsmanship and perfect their craft, I can not ask them for anything else. In life sometimes you won’t win them all and they need to know that.”
The last match was played on court five, leaving junior Natalie Duran losing by a final 5-2 margin.
“This was a very good game,” said Duran. “Both teams did really good, but one was just better. I could not ask for more from my team. We came out. We played. We lost this week but that happens. I know in my heart that we will win if we keep playing how we are playing. We are a good team.”
Junior Dany Raygadas the team captain, was happy with the team spirit the team showed and thinks the loss overall was not detrimental to their team morale.
“This week was better,” said Raygadas. “We played better than yesterday. Our team was more aware of the other team today. I do not think that it was a bad game. We had spirit the whole time, talking to each other, cheering each other on like we always do. I could not ask for a better team. Just because we did not win does not mean that we lost. We will keep the attitude we have and bring it to our next games proudly.”
Hayes believes that as long as the Lady Lions fans are supporting the team, everything will be better.
“On April 3rd, a Monday, we will have a home game,” said Hayes. “So come out, come enjoy yourselves and support tennis. There will be free jambalaya. We expect to see a crowd there supporting us so come out, come have fun and come eat.”