Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Five Louisiana Tech tennis players combined to rack up 15 victories over the course of three days in the Diving Eagle Invitational at the Waranch Tennis Complex.
“This weekend was a lot of learning about who we are and who we are becoming,” said first year head coach Amy Sargeant. “My expectations are very simple, compete on our terms and act like a winner. When players invest in this process, they will always find success.”
Among them was Olga Bienzobas who reeled off four straight singles wins to take home the Flight A championship in what was the Bulldogs first fall tournament of the 2023-24 season.
Bienzobas first advanced to the quarterfinals on day one with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 come-from-behind win over Heta Nuutinen of McNeese State. She turned up the heat on day two, winning back-to-back matches against opponents from host North Texas – 6-3, 6-4 over Olivia Malm and 6-3, 6-0 over Nformi Stadfany – to advance to the finals on Sunday.
After opening up the championship match against Sarina Reinertsen of UT Arlington with a 6-3 win in the first set, the senior dropped the second set, 2-6, before rebounding to win the third set, 6-4, in what was a two hour-plus marathon.
Also playing in Flight A singles was Ana Rodrigues who dropped three consecutive matches before ending the event on a high note Sunday with a 6-3, 7-6 (0) victory against Jemma Cave (Stephen F. Austin).
The three other Bulldogs – Tiffani Nash, Valentina Vasquez, and Alexia Romero – took part in Flight B singles. After all three lost on day one, the trio bounced back to record six victories. Three of those came from Nash who defeated Ioana Dumitrescu (UTA) 6-1, 3-0 (retired), Alkmini Giannakogiorgou (SFA) 6-2, 6-3, and Bruna Casasampere (UTA) 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 (5).
Romero also defeated Giannakogiorgou in straight sets while also downing Jenaila Prulla of UL-Lafayette 6-4, 6-4. Vasquez also claimed a win over Casasampere by a score of 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Meanwhile, in doubles both the duos of Bienzobas/Romero and Rodrigues/Vasquez tallied two victories as part of Flight A. The two tandems defeated pairings from McNeese State on day one and then added wins against two doubles teams out of UL-Lafayette.
“We got a little better each day and I am extremely proud of the way we competed,” said Sargeant. “Buying into the process is key and I am excited to see how the players handle the next opportunity.”
