No. 27 SMU Women’s Tennis Blanks UTPA To Begin Spring Season

DALLAS, Texas (SMU) – The No. 27 SMU Women’s Tennis team began its spring season in fine fashion Friday afternoon by blanking the UTPA Broncs, 7-0, at Turpin Tennis Stadium on the campus of SMU.

The Mustangs grabbed the early momentum on the chilly Dallas day when they earned doubles point after claiming victories at all three doubles positions.

The duo of Marta Lesniak and Edyta Cieplucha won by a score of 8-2 over Malin Anderson and Reetta Raty at No. 1, followed by Aleksandra Malyarchikova and Heather Steinbauer also winning by the same 8-2 score at No. 2 over Suncica Strkic and Wanda Bequelin. Shahzoda Hatamova and Ashley Turpin dispatched of the Nazarova twins at No. 3, 8-1 to round out doubles.

Singles play saw much of the same SMU dominance as the team dropped just eight games collectively. Lesniak, the nation’s second-ranked player, downed Anderson 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 1 singles line, while fellow Poland native Cieplucha took out Raty 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2.

Lesniak is now 19-3 on the season overall. Her fall successes included winning the consolation singles at the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, advancing to the quarterfinal round of the ITA All-American Tennis Championships, and being named Conference USA Player of the Month three times. The No. 2 ranking is the highest for a Mustang since Jennifer Santrock finished third in 1989.

Steinbauer, a junior transfer, earned her first win as a Mustang at No. 3 over Zalina Nazarova, 6-2, 6-0 and Hatamova defeated Strkic in straight sets at No. 4, 6-0, 6-0. 

Malyarchikova and Turpin also won by identical scores of 6-0, 6-0 at the Nos. 5 and 6 spots, respectively, to close out the scoring for SMU.

“This was a good win to get the season started,” said head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. “We have a long few days ahead of us with matches all weekend, but they will prepare us for the ITA Kickoff Weekend next week. I was pleased with how the team came out, knowing it would be chilly, but they didn’t worry about the temperature and get the job done.”

The Mustangs have a quick turnaround as they will host Louisiana-Monroe Saturday afternoon scheduled for a 3 p.m. first serve. The contest is set to begin immediately following the men’s match against UTPA. The team will close out the weekend against UT-San Antonio on Sunday at 2 p.m.