Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech’s tennis team won a pair of Conference USA road matches before falling in a non-conference match in California Monday.
Head coach Amy Sargeant’s Bulldogs defeated New Mexico State 4-3 on Friday and then blanked UTEP 4-0 on Saturday. Tech then fell 4-2 to Cal State – Northridge Monday.
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Tech 4, New Mexico State 3 (Friday)
Louisiana Tech picked up four singles wins, including a three-setter in the clinching match, to help defeat New Mexico State, 4-3, on Friday afternoon at the NM State Tennis Center.
LA Tech’s (9-4, 1-0 CUSA) first conference win of the season was secured thanks to Olga Bienzobas continuing her winning streak combined with the bottom of the lineup producing victories.
RESULTS
Doubles
Court 1 | Olga Bienzobas/Alexia Romero (TECH) def. Anna Pinaieva/Natsuki Nishimura (NMSU) 7-5
Court 2 | Valeriia Ivanovskaia/Dora Kurdi (NMSU) def. Tiffani Nash/Valentina Vasquez (TECH) 6-4
Court 3 | Whitney Moon/Lisa Zhu (NMSU) def. Ana Rodrigues/Zoie Epps (TECH) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
Court 1 | Olga Bienzobas (TECH) def. Natsuki Nishimura (NMSU) 6-1, 6-4
Court 2 | Anna Pinaieva (NMSU) def. Ana Rodrigues (TECH) 7-6, 6-3
Court 3 | Lisa Zhu (NMSU) def. Valentina Vasquez (TECH) 6-2, 6-0
Court 4 | Tiffani Nash (TECH) def. Varvara Nikolaeva (NMSU) 6-1, 6-3
Court 5 | Zoie Epps (TECH) def. Valeriia Ivanovskaia (NMSU) 6-0, 6-4
Court 6 | Alexia Romero (TECH) def. Whitney Moon (NMSU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 1, 2, 6
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Tech 4, UTEP 0 (Saturday)
Louisiana Tech won its third road match in seven days, shutting out UTEP by a final score of 4-0 on Saturday at the El Paso Tennis Club.
While the previous two road victories this week went down to the final match on court, LA Tech (10-4, 2-0 CUSA) made quick work of UTEP (2-9, 0-1 CUSA) to reach double-digit wins while also sweeping the two league matches.
“Today, we stepped up and competed like winners,” said Sargeant. “Playing back-to-back requires mental and physical persistence and that is exactly how we approached the day. Winning a convincing doubles point provided us with confidence going into singles. Every court stepped up playing fearless, competitive tennis.”
RESULTS
Doubles
C1 | Olga Bienzobas/Alexia Romero (TECH) def. Zuzanna Szczepanska/Veronika Lebisova (UTEP) 7-5
C2 | Carlotta Mencaglia/Hanna Telzynska (UTEP) def. Tiffani Nash/Valentina Vasquez (TECH) 6-2
C3 | Ana Rodrigues/Zoie Epps (TECH) def. Elena Dibattista/DeCora Antoine (UTEP) 6-1
Singles
C1 | Olga Bienzobas (TECH) def. Carlotta Mencaglia (UTEP) 6-1, 6-1
C2 | Ana Rodrigues (TECH) vs. Veronika Lebisova (UTEP) 1-6, 6-2, 2-1, unfinished
C3 | Valentina Vasquez (TECH) vs. Elena Dibattista (UTEP) 6-2, 5-5, unfinished
C4 | Tiffani Nash (TECH) vs. Zuzanna Szczepanska (UTEP) 2-6, 6-3, unfinished
C5 | Zoie Epps (TECH) def. Paloma Hennicaux (UTEP) 7-5, 6-1
C6 | Alexia Romero (TECH) def. Emma Jewell (UTEP) 6-3, 6-3
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Cal State Northridge 4, Tech 2
Louisiana Tech had its four-match winning streak snapped on Monday, falling 4-2 to CSUN in a hard-fought battle at the Matador Tennis Complex.
LA Tech (10-5) fell behind early as CSUN (5-1), who came into the match undefeated in doubles, snatched the opening point with wins on courts one and two.
