SMU Women’s Tennis Knocks Off Louisiana Tech

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DALLAS (SMU) – The SMU women’s tennis team improved its record to 3-0 on the season with a 5-2 victory over Louisiana Tech on Wednesday afternoon at the Brad and Ann Brookshire Family Indoor Pavilion at the SMU Tennis Complex.

“I’m so proud of this team. I really think we were great today,” said head coach Kati Gyulai. “The effort was just fantastic and we battled through adversity all week. To come through like this, this is a big win for us.”

The Mustangs grabbed an early 1-0 lead after earning the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Hristina Dishkova and Holly Verner defeated Jazmin Britos and Alexandra Starkova, 6-3, in No. 2 doubles, before Vaszilisza Bulgakova and Dasha Sharapova clinched it with a 6-2 win in No. 1 doubles over Tarrannum Handa and Marta Sramkova.

SMU has now won the doubles point in all three matches this season.

“That’s something we talked about at the beginning of the season,” said Gyulai. “It gives us a lot of confidence going into singles.”

Verner earned the first singles point for the Mustangs, defeating

Haley Ballinger in No. 6 singles; 6-0, 6-2. Bulgakova extended SMU’s lead to 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Handa.

Sharapova clinched the match for the Mustangs, winning 6-4, 6-1, over Sramkova in No. 3 singles.

Mary Wright also tallied a win for SMU, earning a come-from-behind, three-set victory over Manoela Chiacchio. Wright dropped the first set, 6-3, before winning the second, 7-5. She then won the deciding 10-point tiebreaker, 10-5.

Anna Kate Anderson and Dishkova both lost in three sets. Anderson fell to Britos, 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-6), in the No. 2 spot, and Dishkova lost to Starkova, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 1-0 (11-9), in No. 1 singles.

SMU returns to the court on Sunday, Feb. 15 for a doubleheader at the SMU Tennis Complex. The Mustangs take on Northwestern State at 10 a.m. CT, before battling Midwestern State at 3 p.m. CT. Admission is free.