No. 26 SMU Women’s Tennis Beats LSU 5-2
DALLAS (SMU) – The No. 26 SMU Women’s Tennis Team improved to 8-2 this spring with its 5-2 win over LSU on Sunday at SMU’s Turpin Tennis Center.
The Mustangs began the day with solid play in doubles and claimed the early lead by winning at all three positions. SMU has won the doubles point in eight of its ten matches this spring.
Juniors Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarchikova were first to finish when they downed the No. 39 ranked LSU pair of Wolf and Frenkenberger, 8-3, at the top singles line. The SMU duo improved to 5-3 this spring and evened their record against nationally ranked opponents to 2-2.
Heather Steinbauer and Edyta Cieplucha, who broke into the ITA doubles rankings this week at No. 80, clinched the doubles point for SMU with an 8-5 win over Burns and Vlaar. Steinbauer and Cieplucha improved to 7-1 this spring.
Ashley Turpin and Shahzoda Hatamova won for the third time in four matches and improved to 6-3 with their 8-5 win at No. 3 over Wilson and Morton.
“We came out and set the tone early with our doubles play,” said head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. “We knew that LSU would come out ready to play and as always, the double point would be big. I was glad that we matched their intensity and were able to battle the conditions. It was really windy out there, but we didn’t let that bother us.”
In singles, Malyarchikova was first off the courts to push the SMU lead to 2-0. The native of Belarus cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 win over Yvette Vlaar at the No. 5 line. Malyarchokova, newly ranked at No. 112 in singles, is now 8-2 this spring.
Cieplucha made the score 3-0 in favor of SMU when she dispatched Kaitlin Burns at No. 2, 6-1, 6-3. The sophomore is now 7-2 at the No. 2 spot and has won three consecutive matches.
Moments later, Steinbauer clinched the win for the Mustangs with her 6-3, 6-3 win over Keri Frankenberger at No. 3. The transfer from Vanderbilt is also 7-2 on the season at No. 3.
Lesniak, ranked No. 5 in the nation, claimed the Mustangs other win on the afternoon. The junior battled injury to down No. 60 Whitney Wolf at the top singles line, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. With the win, Lesniak improved to 7-2 this spring and 25-5 on the year. She has also defeated 11 nationally ranked opponents.
The two LSU wins came at Nos. 4 and 6. Ebie Wilson defeated Hatamova 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4, while Turpin retired at No. 6 against Ariel Morton down a set and trailing 3-1 in the second.
“I was glad that we kept our momentum from doubles and took care of business in singles,” said Meisner. “With the way the wind was whipping around, I thought we handled the conditions a little better and kept our focus. LSU is a very scrappy team and I knew we would get their best effort. Now we have to get some rest before we play another tough opponent in TCU on Wednesday.”
SMU returns to action Wednesday, February 23rd when they play host cross-town rival No. 53 TCU at the Turpin Tennis Center. First serve for the match with the Horned Frogs is set for 6 p.m.
