SMU Women’s Tennis Advances

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TULSA, Okla. — The SMU women’s tennis team came from behind to defeat Memphis, 4-3, in a thrilling quarterfinal matchup at the American Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday at Tulsa’s Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

“It was a fantastic effort today,” said head coach Kati Gyulai. “We were resilient and we executed in big moments.”

With the win, SMU advances to play top-seeded Houston in the semifinals tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT. Houston defeated eighth-seeded Connecticut in its quarterfinal matchup. The Cougars won the regular season matchup with the Mustangs, 4-0, in Houston.

SMU (16-6, 3-3 The American) won the doubles point with victories in the No. 2 and 3 matches. Macie Elliott and Mary Wright (No. 3) won by default and Hristina Dishkova and Holly Verner (No. 2) clinched the point for the Mustangs, defeating Liza Tymchenko and Marta Morga, 6-3.

In singles, Memphis (9-14, 4-2 The American) evened the score at 1-1, as Marta Morga (No. 3) defeated Dasha Sharapova, 6-4, 6-2. Anki Wind (No. 1) then put SMU up 2-1, topping Dishkova, 7-6 (9), 6-0. Tymchenko (No. 2) put the Tigers within a point of clinching, defeating Anna Kate Anderson, 6-4, 6-4.

Verner (No. 6) answered with a straight-set victory over Tara McElroy, 6-3, 6-4. The match then came down to a pair of three-set matches, with SMU needing both to win the match.

Yana Erkeeva (No. 4) evened the score at 3-3, topping Kathryn Hughes, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Vaszilisza Bulgakova (No. 5) clinched it with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over Alyssa Hibberd.

“We are excited that we are able to continue playing this season,” said Gyulai.