Courtesy of LA Tech & GSU Athletic Communications
Bulldog Tennis
After waiting nearly a month to play its home opener, No. 64 Louisiana Tech set the tone early helping to secure a 6-1 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon at the LA Tech Tennis Complex.
LA Tech (6-2), winners of five of its last six, locked up the doubles point and then followed that up with straight set victories on five of the six singles courts.
“I am incredibly proud of how we competed today in our first home match of the season,” said head coach Amy Sargeant. “Setting the tone early and securing the doubles point at two and three speaks volumes about our preparation, belief, and commitment to each other. We made a clear decision to play on our terms to be the aggressors, to attack the ball with our feet, and to keep the game simple and disciplined. That mindset showed up across the board.”
Mio Kozaki and Diana Starodubtseva got the winning started for the Bulldogs, prevailing 6-1 at the No. 3 position. Clinching the opening point was their court neighbor, Alice Brook and Maria Tsironi, who delivered a 6-4 victory at No. 2.
The ‘Dogs did not let their foot off the gas. June Vigneron surrendered just one game against Avery Kinsey, dominating 6-0, 6-1 on court five to give LA Tech a 2-0 advantage.
Making it 3-0 in favor of the home squad was Isabella Walker who made quick work of Alkmini Giannakogiorgou 6-1, 6-3 on court six. Soon thereafter, Tsironi provided the clinching point for LA Tech, downing Ana Paula Chavez 6-2, 6-2 on court four.
SFA (0-4) would get its lone point of the match on court two with a victory by Sonja Rooth, but LA Tech tacked on two more points with Zoie Epps getting the best of Felicia Back 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 and Starodubtseva prevailing 6-3, 6-4 over Antonella Taco.
“What impressed me the most today was the maturity and growth this team displayed,” said Sargeant. “We understand what is ahead of us with a tough road stretch, and today proved we are building the habits and resilience needed to rise to that challenge.”
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Bulldog Bowling
The No. 5 Louisiana Tech bowling team had a strong finish in the Big Red Invite Sunday as they jumped three spots in the standings to finish sixth overall in a field that had 12 teams, eight of which are in the top 10.
“This weekend’s tournament was one of the premier events of the year, with nearly every top-10 team in attendance,” said Tech head coach Matt Nantais. “The format had us play everyone once before moving into bracket play, so every team faced essentially the same schedule throughout the weekend.
“We had a few close matches that could have gone our way, but sometimes the pins just don’t fall when you need them to. That said, we made a really strong move on the final day, climbing from 9th to 6th place and finishing with an 8-5 record. In an event this grueling and competitive, I’ll take that result any day of the week.”
The Bulldogs had a total pinfall of 13,604. Kylee Trexler recorded a seventh place finish as an individual after rolling a 1,310 across six traditional games (226, 195, 212, 204, 225, 248).
LA Tech entered the day in ninth and defeated Quincy 1,078-829 to finish 4-2 in traditional match play. The Bulldogs then took on No. 3 Arkansas in their first of two best-of-four-of-seven baker matches.
Tech took down Arkansas state in 4-3 in a thriller (204-176, 182-188, 200-226, 214-193, 206-212, 203-202, 214-191).
The Bulldogs then took on #2 Vanderbilt and fell 2-4 (212-227, 237-185, 183-268, 243-175, 203-192, 203-191).
“We now have a weekend off to prepare for our final regular-season event, with the goal of continuing to move up in the RPI rankings,” said Nantais. “Statistically, this weekend was a big improvement over our last event, and the difference was clear-we bowled as a team, not as individuals. That collective effort is what propelled us forward, and every single athlete contributed to this weekend’s success.”
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